(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

housing market

Uptick in December house sales as annual price decline eases

Jan 9, 2020 | 2:00 PM

Prince Albert’s residential property market saw a 50 per cent uptick in sales in December, although that increase comes off a very modest base. And while the market is still in a slump, there are signs the downward trend in prices may be slowing in the city, while it has almost stopped in Saskatoon.

The newly amalgamated Saskatchewan Realtors’ Association (SRA) said there were 15 sales in P.A. last month, compared to 10 in December 2018. There were 20 sales in the region, which includes areas beyond city limits, compared to 13 the previous year.

The average sales price in P.A. was $161,900 for December, down by a large 25 per cent margin from the previous December. However, over the course of the entire year, the average sale price in P.A. was $220,844, which was 4.7 per cent down from the $230,000 in 2018. That figure was still worse than the 2.2 per cent decline of 2017, but better than the larger decreases of between 5.3 and eight per cent seen in many of the years since 2009 when the average price was around $238,000.

The yearly average prices are volatile because of the relatively small amount of inventory that is sold.

House prices in the city are on average eight per cent lower than a decade ago, but Jason Yochim, the CEO of the SRA said there were signs the drift was easing.

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“A decade ago we saw a significant change in price across most of the markets in the province,” he told paNOW. “So, here’s been a steady decline in most cities and that seems to be slowing in the last year or so.”

Saskatoon’s average sale price in 2019 was only 1.4 per cent down compared to 2018 at $333,857. Yochim said as that city and the likes of Warman, Martensville and Dalmeny saw improved stats, there was the chance the P.A. market could see a knock-on effect.

“I think it’s reasonable to expect in a province our size that if we do see changes for the positive in the larger centres, there will be a trickle-down effect to some of the smaller cities.”

In their report, SRA said 324 homes had sold in Prince Albert in 2019, which is almost the same as 2018. However, that was well off the 509 properties that sold in 2011, and the 441 that sold in 2016. On average, properties are on the market for 82 days before selling.

There were 203 sales in Saskatoon in December. In Warman, Martensville and Dalmeny 136 homes sold last month.

Yochim noted there was a trend of a decline in new listings coming onto the P.A. market in recent years and he figured the lack of supply may have an impact on keeping the average price stable.

“I’m optimistic that will create a levelling of price – or hopefully in time an increase in the average price – because there’s less supply for the buyers out there,” he said.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow