Limited supply caused Regina housing prices to rise in March: realtors association

A home for sale is pictured in this undated file photo.

House sales in the city of Regina slowed last month compared to 2021’s record pace, but levels are sill among the strongest March activity recorded in the city, with 351 sales in the month.

According to the Saskatchewan REALTORS Association’s monthly report, new listings rose compared to levels over the past seven months, but inventory was down with 982 units available – nine per cent lower than levels recorded last year.

Chris Guérette, Saskatchewan REALTORS Association (SRA) CEO, said March is typically when more people listing their homes, which adds supply to the market.

“While we did see more new listings compared to the winter months, it hasn’t been enough compared to the sales to make any significant change in supply, resulting in further price gains in the market,” he said.

Province-wide, both sales and new listings trended up this month compared to levels seen over the past few months. However, with 5,648 units in inventory in Saskatchewan, Guerette said levels are nearly 30 per cent lower than what we usually see in the market in March.

“As we move more into the spring market, supply will be a crucial factor,” said Guérette.

“Should supply levels start to improve we could see more balanced conditions slowing the upward pressure on prices. However, this transition could take longer than expected, especially in our largest cities, which is why we’ve begun outreach to our industry partners to discuss how to address these supply shortages.”

Guérette said the unadjusted benchmark price in March reached $289,600 which was nearly two per cent higher than February, over three per cent higher than the levels in 2021, and 13 per cent higher than the levels before the pandemic began.