‘We’ve been looking for almost a year’: Why Sask.’s housing market is red hot

It is a sellers market across Saskatchewan and first-time homebuyers say they are having a hard time making that milestone purchase, bidding on multiple homes that end up selling for more than the asking price. 

“I just thought that it would be a lot easier in a city like Regina,” said Ruth Aguilar, 25, who has been looking to buy her first home with her husband Aaron Gunther for almost a year.

“We put an offer on three houses, but they’re going for thousands over asking, like some even upwards of $50,000 over asking,” Aguilar said. 

She said the couple is feeling deflated and considering pausing their search, after expanding where they are looking and putting Ruth’s dream for a character home on pause. 

The couple’s real estate agent Peter Fourlas has been in the industry in the city since 2009. He told host Sam Maciag on CBC’s This is Saskatchewan podcast that he hasn’t seen housing inventory this low since those recession years. 

Fourlas said he’s seeing half of the inventory as there was during the pandemic.

“Which is kind of crazy since COVID was probably 50 per cent less inventory than pre-2020.” 

LISTEN | Homebuyers are facing frustration in Regin and Saskatoon – here’s why 

Fourlas and fellow real estate agent Jillian Moore, who has been working in Saskatoon since 2012, told This is Saskatchewan the lingering effects of the pandemic.

“I always say during COVID, people either found out that they hated their house or they hated each other. And that caused a lot of sales,” Moore said.

Those separations, More said, meant one home was being sold and two were being purchased, “exponentially increasing the sales process.”

Record low-interest rates in 2021 were another factor, Fourlas said. Many people, including him, took advantage of those rates and locked their mortgages in for five-year terms. 

Those people don’t want to give up those low rates, “unless they need to move for work or they found that ultra perfect home that they’ve been looking for.”

He said he doesn’t think the market will change until 2026, when many of those mortgages will be up for renewal. 

Foreign investors not contributing to housing crunch in Saskatchewan

Both Fourlas and Moore say that while newcomers are a big demographic looking to buy and are currently struggling in the hot market, foreign buyers purchasing investment properties are not depleting housing stock in Regina and Saskatoon. 

“I don’t think, here, in the middle of Saskatchewan, it’s as big of an issue as in those major metropolitan areas,” Fourlas said. 

When people ask Moore what is driving the market, she said she tells them it is an inventory issue. 

“We would have to basically triple our inventory to get to an even market,” Moore said. 

In June, there was only 1.6 months of housing supply in Saskatoon and 2.03 months in Regina, Moore said, adding a balanced market needs six months of supply.  

But building too rapidly and creating more supply than there is demand for would also cause problems, Fourlas said. 

He said there was overbuilding in 2016 and home prices dropped up to 30 per cent. 

We have to hope and pray “that they build just enough” to create a balanced market, he said. 

Buyers must be more flexible

Both agents say that in the current market, prospective buyers need to be more flexible on their wants and needs. 

It’s something that Julie Anderson and her partner Mathew Revet have had to do while looking to buy their first home in Regina for themselves, their dog Maya and their cat Willow.

A garage and multiple bedrooms are no longer requirements, Anderson said, despite the couple hoping to find a place to start a family after saving for more than five years. 

“It’s pretty tough right now,” Anderson said. 

The couple has put in five or so offers, sometimes as much as $30,000 over asking price, and not even come close to getting anything, Anderson said.

“Houses are going for like 50 to 75 grand over.” 

This story is from the This is Saskatchewan podcast — your connection to the stories Saskatchewan is talking about. Every week, the podcast covers local issues that matter. Hear the voices that are creating change, shaping policy and fuelling creativity in Saskatchewan.

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