A record number of homes were sold in Saskatchewan during April, according to the association responsible for real estate agents in the province.
The Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA) said 1,865 homes changed hands during the month, an increase of nearly 182 per cent from a year ago, and up 97.2 per cent year to date compared to the first four months of 2020.
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“It’s not really fair to compare this April to last April since pandemic restrictions halted activity for part of April last year,” Chris Gbekorbu, SRA’s economic analyst, said in a release Tuesday.
“But it is fair to compare April with other years, and just like last month, we set another record with 1,865 sales. We saw sales hit a high of 1,801 last July as the economy reopened, but before then, our record was 1,609 sales in May of 2014.”
The SRA said inventory levels dropped during the same period, causing prices to rise in 14 of 15 markets where the home price index (HPI) composite is tracked. Only Estevan had a decrease in the HPI, down 0.1 per cent.
In Saskatoon, the HPI for a single-family home increased 10.6 per cent year over year from $290,200 to $321,000.
In Regina, the benchmark for single-family was up 8.5 per cent year-over-year, going from $241,300 to $261,800.
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The SRA said a steady supply of homes continues to be added to the market, easing concerns of demand outpacing supply.
“New listings were up significantly in 23 of 24 markets, suggesting that people are still quite motivated to sell and helping to ease supply concerns,” Gbekorbu said.
The SRA said new listings are up 13.9 per cent for the year compared to the same period a year ago.
Both Saskatoon and Regina have balanced market conditions based on sales to listing ratios, the SRA reported.
