By Glenn Hicks

P.A. housing market takes July hit

Aug 2, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The downturn in the Prince Albert housing market will come as no surprise to anyone, but the latest sales figures appear additionally hard-hitting. The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors (SRAR) has labelled the numbers “unusual”, although an official suggested they did not necessarily mean the start of an even bigger slump.

According to the SRAR monthly report only 25 sales happened in Prince Albert in July, which is almost 50 per cent worse than July 2017 when 49 properties changed hands. The particularly low figures are below the five-year average and are the worst for a July in the last nine years according to data supplied by SRAR.

“[July sales] saw an unusual decline,” CEO Jason Yochim said in a media release. “Although the numbers represent a significant decline compared to last year, this does not necessarily indicate an alarming trend.”

Yochim said various factors could have contributed to the decline which “may be coincidence.”

The Saskatchewan economy is still in the doldrums, largely due to the big knock on the resource sector. News of the hundreds of lay-offs at the Cameco uranium mines in the North last week does not bode well for the short-term outlook, but the housing market in Prince Albert had shown some small signs of a modest comeback recently. Statistics provided to paNOW last month showed 41 homes sold in June, which was the second consecutive monthly improvement over 2017 numbers.

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However, the latest monthly figures paint a bleak picture for sellers with the total value of all homes sold in the city and region down by 20 per cent, according to SRAR. One glimmer of positive news was the year-to-date average selling price which was up 2.7 per cent over 2017 at $241,336.

The number of new listings on the market in July was down over five per cent compared to last year with 67 properties up for sale.

In the media release Yochim said the real indicator of success in selling was “correct pricing based on what else is competition in the market and the current market conditions relative to supply and demand.”

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow