Housing Sales Dip But Remain Strong In 2022

Yearly sales of residential units province-wide might be down 12 percent from 2021 to 2022 the good news is they were 15 percent higher than long-term averages.

That’s the good news from the Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA) whose recently released 2022 numbers show a weakening but still strong provincial housing sales market in Saskatchewan.

“As many markets across the country are experiencing a strong shift in demand, Saskatchewan continues to report sales that are stronger than pre-pandemic levels,” the SRA 2022 annual report reads.

Higher lending rate policy enacted to cut the money supply and through that inflation affected home sales in Saskatchewan in 2022.

“Without question, higher lending rates are contributing to the pullback in sales. We saw the Bank of Canada raise interest rates seven times in 2022,” Chris Guérette CEO of the SRA said in a statement.

“The housing market is changing as consumers adjust to higher lending rates and rising costs of living. That said, Saskatchewan continues to fare better than many regions across the country and we expect that to continue in 2023” said Guérette. “With prospective buyers having to qualify at higher rates, our biggest concern heading into the new year is the lack of supply in homes priced below $500,000.”

For Moose Jaw the report places 2022 sales in the city as 791 single dwelling units sold a nine (9) percent decrease from 2021.

Provincially the residential sales in 2022 compared to 2021 decreased from a low of two (2) percent in Swift Current to a high of 27 percent in Melfort.

The year saw 1,256 homes listed a seven (7) percent decrease in 2022 compared to 2021.

The available inventory of listed homes was 336 or 13 percent drop in inventory in 2022 compared to 2021. The available inventory was 5.1 months a four (4) percent decrease in 2022 versus 2021.

The average benchmark cost of a dwelling was $234,281 or an eight (8) percent price increase in 2022 versus 2021.