August 05, 2020
For immediate release
Building off the strong performance seen in June, the real estate sector continues to show signs of resilience. Across the province, year-over-year sales were up over 56% from July of last year (and up over 9% year-to-date), new listings were up over 9% year-over-year (but down 11% year-to-date), and the median sale price was up 2.7% (down 0.9% year-to-date). Inventories were also down in all markets that the SRA tracks, suggesting that people are still eager to buy and take advantage of the opportunities that exist.
While there has been an uptick in the number of COVID cases across the province, the precautions put in place earlier this year seem to have reduced people’s anxiety about home buying. “When the pandemic hit, we put measures in place to make sure that our members and their clients would be safe while buying homes,” said SRA CEO Jason Yochim. “And we’re seeing how effective those measures have been. People feel safe and they’re buying,” suggesting that while COVID is still a concern, people and the economy are adapting.
Although prices are down in some markets (reflecting the local nature of real estate), the number of sales were up in all markets that the SRA tracks, and the number of new listings were up in all but one. Again, this suggests that the sector is doing quite well despite the impact the pandemic has had on the province, and that the sector has recovered in two to three months.
The strong performance seen in June and July (supported by increasing confidence in the real estate sector) is promising for August as well. “Members are still receiving multiple offers and some properties continue to be sold almost as soon as they’re listed,” says Yochim, suggesting that there is still pent-up demand. As a result, would-be sellers may be encouraged to list and help ease the declining inventory burden. And with children scheduled to return to school in September, August could see another strong push before life gets back to “normal” and Saskatchewan real estate activity begins its cyclical slow down.
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For interviews and more information:
Samantha Krahn
Director of External & Government Relations
Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association
306.229.4048