(file photo)

By Glenn Hicks

property matters

P.A. property update, Lake Country sees uptick

Aug 6, 2020 | 2:00 PM

The Saskatchewan Realtors’ Association is talking about what they call “the resilience” of the housing market despite the slow spring during the early stages of the COVID 19 pandemic.

CEO Jason Yochim said 84 units sold across Prince Albert and area in July versus the 68 sales in July 2019; a 23 per cent increase. Also, Lake Country is attracting attention in part, because of the global health crisis.

“There seems to be a trend with consumers to be going towards recreational property with the inability to travel out of the country for sure, or even inter-provincially,” Yochim told paNOW.

The July sales numbers for the city of Prince Albert specifically were 53 versus 32 last year, a 65 per cent uptick and a 36 per cent increase over the five-year average. Yochim figured that had much to do with things coming back towards normality after the initial months of the pandemic.

“We saw a definitely multiplied effect with the June/July sales because of the postponed transactions that would normally have happened earlier and I think we’ll see a decent demand going into the fall,” he said. He noted the spring and fall are traditionally the busier months for property sales. He said more and more listings would likely come on to the market.

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While he figured it was still too early to talk about any trends towards Prince Albert ending its recent years of housing market slump, he called the last month of activity “very encouraging.”

“I’m glad to see that the post-COVID demand for property has affected Prince Albert in such a positive way,” he said.

Prices up slightly

The median price of a house in P.A. went up from $214,000 to $221,000 from July 2019, still two per cent below the five-year-average. The median price for the wider P.A. and region increased from $204,500 to $221,500 over the same period, which is just above the five-year-average.

There were 75 new listings in P.A., and 157 for the region, which is up over July 2019 but still fewer than the five-year-average.

Homes are being bought on average 83 days after being listed, as opposed to the 92 days they stayed on the market in July 2019.

In Saskatoon, house sales jumped 41 per cent in July to 550 and by 54 per cent in the wider region. The MLS Home Price Index sees the price of a home in Saskatoon move up 1.8 per cent from $309,400 to $314,900.

Speaking to the precautions and protocols put in place by the association amid the pandemic, Yochim said people’s anxiety about home buying had been reduced and consumers were still buying.

“That’s helped consumers feel comfortable… and that has helped our market stay strong. It could have been impacted harder,” he said.

—

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow