December was a busy month for Regina and area REALTORS®, thanks to significant increases in sales. In the city, sales were up 38.4 percent from 99 in 2018 to 137 in 2019. In the full region, sales were also up 42.6 percent from 115 to 164. While up from last year, these numbers remain below the 5-year sales average of 221 and 10-year average of 239.

At year’s end, 2,570 sales were recorded in Regina, up 4.68 percent from 2,455. Sales in the region was also up 2.54 percent to 3,107 from 3,030 last year.

For December, the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), a much more accurate measure of housing price trends than average or median price, reported a Composite Benchmark Price of $258,400, down 4.6 percent from $271,000 one year ago. This reflects a general trend, indicating downward pressure on home prices due to the combination of less demand for economic reasons and the federal mortgage stress test, which has taken many buyers out of the market. The Composite HPI Benchmark Price is down 12.8 percent from three years ago and 10.9 percent from five years ago. The HPI Composite price is now at its lowest since being adopted by the association in 2012.

The city saw total sales up 27.4 percent from 29.6 million to 37.7 million last month, while the total in all areas was $44.5M, an increase of 32.1% from 2018’s $33.7M. Total dollar volume for the year was $774.5 million in Regina, up 1.8 percent from $760.6 million, and in all regions, total sales of $929.8 million was up 1.2 percent from $919 million in 2018.

There were 207 new listings placed on the MLS® System during the month in all geographic areas, an increase of 4 percent from 199 last year. Total listings for the year were down 9 percent from 7,168 to 6,520. In the city, 153 new listings were posted compared to 155 last year – a decrease of 1.3 percent. Listings were also down for the year – a 9.8 percent decrease from 5,552 in 2018 to 5,021.

The ratio of sales to new listings for the month was 89 percent in the city and 79 percent in all geographic areas. Balanced market conditions are generally in the 40-60 percent range – below 40 percent is considered to be more of a buyer’s market – above 60 percent is considered to be a market favouring sellers.

“After a disappointing November it was promising to see sales numbers rebound in December. The market experienced many fluctuations, but the year ended slightly ahead of where we were last year,” says Jason Yochim, CEO of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA). “The continued decrease in home prices will hopefully provide an opportunity for new buyers to enter the market, which will help offset some of the negative affects we’ve experienced as a result of the latest mortgage rules and stress test.” The SRA came into effect on January 1, 2020 when the Association of Regina REALTORS®, the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® and the Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS® amalgamated.

See full details here: Regina City and Region (Media)