By Glenn Hicks

P.A. housing market slumps 17 per cent in 2018

Jan 15, 2019 | 4:13 PM

Continuing bleak figures regarding the Prince Albert and area housing market is prompting the question, can it get any worse?

In their report wrapping up 2018 the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors (SRAR) said residential homes sales in the city were 17 per cent lower year over year compared to 2017. Only 330 transactions happened last year. Also the 724 total listings on the market was the lowest since 2010.

SRAR Chief Executive Officer Jason Yochim told paNOW the numbers shouldn’t come as a surprise as most of Western Canada is suffering a slump, excluding Vancouver, because of the downturn in the economy and loss of jobs.

Saskatoon saw a five per cent decline compared to the total number of home transactions for 2017.

“I don’t know if we’ve hit the bottom [of the market] yet,” Yochim said. “But I don’t think we’re very far from it.”

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However, he said they saw a trend in Saskatoon and Regina where the reduced number of listings coming onto the market was “not a bad thing” as it was helping to stabilize prices and even see them rebound somewhat.

Despite the poor sales volume in Prince Albert, the average sales price of a home went up three per cent in 2018 to $231,452.

Yochim said when the economic conditions starts to improve, jobs will be created and it would improve consumer confidence, with home sales following. But he remained optimistic and said it remained a good time to buy.

“We have to be prepared it could be a couple years [before the market turns around] but everyone wants to buy in a down market; no one wants to buy when the market is moving up,” he said.

Yochim added while some people were afraid to buy because of the uncertainty about the future, the very good interest rates, availability of property and lower prices were opportunities that some could still take advantage of.

Despite the continuing slump in the local market, the SRAR report showed the relatively few homes that have been selling in Prince Albert are fetching 93.6 per cent of the asking price, which is virtually unchanged from a year ago.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow