Home sales in July in Moose Jaw declined compared to 2021, similar to the rest of the province, while year-to-date data also showed a decline across most of the board.
There were 52 homes sold last month in The Friendly City, a decline from 62 units — or 20 per cent — in July 2021, data from the Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA) shows.
There were 100 new listings in July, an increase from 90 new listings during the same time last year. However, inventory of homes slipped to 190 units, a decline from 232 units — a 22-per-cent drop — in July 2021.
The number of available homes meant there were 3.65 months of supply available, a drop from 3.76 months last July. Meanwhile, homes stayed on the market for 41 days.
The average home price in Canada’s Most Notorious City was $232,281, a decrease of eight per cent year-over-year. Meanwhile, the benchmark price was $248,000, an increase of five per cent compared to last July.
The 10-year average for July shows there are usually 57 homes sold, 100 new listings, 306 homes in inventory, 5.73 months of supply, 58 days for homes on the market, a benchmark price of $229,210 and an average price of $250,044.
Year-to-date, there have been 390 homes sold, 578 new listings, 155 homes in inventory, 2.77 months of supply, 43 days for homes on the market, a benchmark price of $237,529 and an average price of $260,539.
The 10-year average for year-to-date statistics for July shows there are usually 332 home sales, 671 new listings, 270 homes in inventory, 5.92 months of supply, 61 days for homes on the market, a benchmark price of $224,503 and an average price of $244,793.
Provincial outlook
There were 1,439 home sales across Saskatchewan in July, which was a decline of 9.2 per cent year over year and a decline of 9.7 per cent year-to-date, according to the SRA.
There were 2,494 new listings across the province last month, a drop of 1.7 per cent year-over-year and an 8.2-per-cent decline year-to-date. Meanwhile, there were 7,142 homes in inventory, which was a decline of 10.6 per cent compared to July 2021.
There were 4.96 months of housing supply across the province last month, a decrease of 1.6 per cent year-over-year.
While sales have eased, last year was a record year, and with year-to-date sales just shy of 10,000 units, levels are still well above long-term averages for Saskatchewan, said the SRA.
New listings trended down compared to the past few months and last year’s levels. Nonetheless, the pullback in sales has outpaced the decline in new listings, which supports a shift toward more balanced conditions. This also caused inventory levels to continue to trend up from lows earlier this year.
“As expected, gains in lending rates are having some cooling impacts on the housing market, causing consumers to seek out more affordable options. The challenge will be product availability in the lower price ranges of the market,” said Chris Guérette, CEO of SRA.
“Supply levels are improving compared to earlier in the year, however, the year-over-year decline in inventory has been driven by homes priced below $400,000.”
The recent shifts helped push the months of supply up to nearly five months, reflecting far more balanced conditions than what was experienced the past four months, the SRA said. While conditions are not as tight as before, this July was the tightest since 2009.
These conditions support further price gains in the province when many Canadian cities are seeing a retraction in prices. In July, the benchmark price reached $335,100, slightly higher than the previous month and over five-per-cent higher than July 2021.
“Moving forward, further rate increases are expected as concerns over inflation persist in the market. This will continue to weigh on housing markets across the country,” said Guérette.
“However, markets like Saskatchewan are expected to fare better than some of the larger centers in the country as they never experienced the same level of price growth throughout the pandemic.”
