The Saskatchewan real estate market remains strong. Across the province, there were 1,914 homes sold (up over almost 12% from last June and up 65.7% year-to-date, going from 5,690 to 9,427), new listings were down 2.6% (but up 20.0% year-to-date, going from 2,174 to 2,608) and the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) composite was up 9.8% (up 8.9% year-to-date, going from $262,700 to $288,500). Inventories—a measure of how many months until there are no active listings given current sales levels— were also down in 23 of the 24 markets that the SRA tracks.

“The market continues to level off from the highs seen earlier this year,” said Chris Guérette, SRA’s CEO. This month-over-month leveling off in activity is expected and is being seen across the country. “As more people get their COVID vaccines and the economy continues to open up, people’s spending decisions are going to include things other than housing,” said Guérette, “and that’s going to temper demand somewhat. But so far, market activity remains positive.”

Some policy makers had hoped that the new mortgage rules that came into effect June 1 would help to moderate demand; “It’s still too early to tell what the full impact of the tighter mortgage rules will be, but they don’t seem to have had any real impact on Saskatchewan markets,” said Guérette. Across the province, sales were still up nearly 18% and prices were up almost 10%, while the changes introduced in 2018 saw both sales and prices fall. According to Guérette, ”the jump in sales and drop in inventory despite efforts to cool the market suggests that the market is still quite strong and that if we want to see prices moderate, policy efforts should be aimed at increasing supply rather than trying stifle demand.”

Saskatoon and Region (including Martensville, Warman, and Humboldt)

Sales were up 18.3% in Saskatoon (going from 513 to 607), up 36.0% in Martensville (going from 25 to 34), and up 23.5% in Warman (going from 34 to 42). In Humboldt, sales were up 16.7% (going from 12 to 14), while in the larger region, sales were up 15.8% (going from 716 to 829). Sales in Saskatoon were 35.8% above the 5-year average (and 33.3% above the 10-year average), 47.8% above the 5-year average (and 61.1% above the 10-year average) in Martensville, and 62.8% above the 5-year average (and 50.5% above the 10-year average) in Warman. In Humboldt, sales were 34.6% above the 5-year average (and 38.6% above the 10-year average), while in the larger region, sales were 35.1% above the 5-year average (and 34.2% above the 10-year average). Year-to-Date (YTD) sales in Saskatoon rose 65.3% over last year (increasing from 1,774 to 2,933), rose 51.1% in Martensville (increasing from 92 to 139), and rose 91.8% in Warman (increasing from 98 to 188). Year-to-Date (YTD) sales in Humboldt rose 97.5% over last year (increasing from 40 to 79), while YTD sales in the larger region rose 64.6%
(going from 2,453 to 4,038).

Sales volume was up 28.8% in the Saskatoon, going from $171.8M to $221.3M in 2021 (42.9% above the 5-year average, and 39.5% above the 10-year average). In Martensville, sales volume was up 48.6%, going from $7.3M to $10.9M (50.4% above the 5-year average, and 62.0% above the 10-year average) and in Warman, sales volume was up 29.9%, going from $12.4M to $16.1M (67.2% above the 5-year average, and 57.2% above the 10-year average). Sales volume was down 22.4% in Humboldt, going from $3.1M to $2.4M (9.0% above the 5-year average, and 1.0% below the 10-year average), while in the region, sales volume was up 26.2%, going from $231.1M to $291.7M (43.6% above the 5-year average, and 42.2% above the 10-year average). YTD sales volume in Saskatoon was $1,076.7M (an increase of 79.3% from last year), $46.9M in Martensville (an increase of 70.7% from last year), and $73.3M in Warman (an increase of 102.4% from last year). YTD sales volume in Humboldt was $18.0M (an increase of 103.6% from last year), while in the region, YTD sales volume was $1,413.0M (an increase of 79.7% from last year).

In Saskatoon, the number of new listings in June 2021 fell 0.5%, going from 829 to 825 (3.3% below the 5-year average and 4.1% below the 10-year average). The number of new listings rose 60.9% in Martensville, going from 23 to 37 (3.4% above the 5-year average and 4.1% below the 10-year average) and rose 0.0% in Warman, going from 45 to 45 (3.0% below the 5-year average and 8.2% below the 10-year average). In Humboldt, the number of new listings fell 10.5%, going from 19 to 17 (18.3% below the 5-year average and 18.3% below the 10-year average) , while in the region, new listings fell 8.1%, going from 1,228 last year to 1,128 this year (8.7% below the 5-year average and 9.8% below the 10-year average). YTD new listings in Saskatoon rose 29.9% (going from 619 to 804), rose 38.7% in Martensville (going from 25 to 35), and rose 15.1% in Warman (going from 36 to 42). In Humboldt, YTD new listings fell 20.9%

(going from 22 to 17), while in the larger region, the number of new listings to date rose 21.2%, going from 901 to 1,092. Active listings fell 1.6% in Saskatoon (down from 1,573 to 1,548), fell 10.1% in Martensville (down from 69 to 62), fell 40.9% in Warman (down from 115 to 68), fell 30.9% in Humboldt (down from 97 to 67), and fell 14.1% in the region (down from 2,842 to 2,442).

Inventory in Saskatoon stood at 2.6 months (which is 16.8% below the level last year and 39.9% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 73.6%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in Martensville stood at 1.8 months (which is 33.9% below the level last year and 59.0% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 91.9%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in Warman stood at 1.6 months (which is 52.1% below the level last year and 66.0% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 93.3%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in Humboldt stood at 4.8 months (which is 40.8% below the level last year and 50.3% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 82.4%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in the larger region stood at 2.9 months (which is 25.8% below the level last year and 45.1% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 73.5%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers.

Homes in Saskatoon stayed on the market an average of 37 days in June, down 11.9% from 42 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 44 days and below the 10-year average of 41 days). Homes in Martensville stayed on the market an average of 51 days, down 13.6% from 59 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 59 days and above the 10-year average of 51 days) while homes in Warman stayed on the market an average of 34 days, down 52.8% from 72 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 52 days and below the 10-year average of 52 days). Humboldt saw Homes stay on the market an average of 100 days, up 53.8% from 65 days last year (and above the 5-year average of 85 days and above the 10-year average of 74 days), and homes in the region were on the market an average of 44 days, also down from an average of 54 days last year (and 15.1% below the 5-year average).

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)—a more accurate measure of house price trends—varied across different centres in the region. Saskatoon saw the price of the benchmark single family home rise 12.9% year-over-year, going from $293,700 to $331,500. The price of the benchmark single family home in Martensville rose 9.0% (going from $365,500 to $398,500) and also rose by 10.8% in Warman (going from $372,000 to $412,300). The price of the benchmark single family home in Humboldt rose 17.2% (going from $177,500 in 2020 to $208,000 this year).