There is always a lot of speculation about where housing prices are going to go in the future, and it always seems to intensify around the roll-over from one year to another.
Some analysts think house prices in Canada are over-priced by anywhere from 10 to 6o percent, and that a crash in house prices is just around the corner. But analysts have been saying that for a long time now, and still prices continue to rise, especially in cities like Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.
In Saskatchewan, house prices were among the lowest in the country until 2007. But back then, Saskatchewan was a place where the population was slowly but steadily dropping. In 2007, when the Provincial Economy started to boom, and people came with it, house prices pretty much doubled in less than a year. And they have been slowly, but steadily continuing to rise ever since.
It feels now that prices in Saskatchewan have for the most part stabilized. There is a lot of inventory in the Saskatoon and Regina markets in particular, and that has caused a bit of a softening in prices right now. But try to go for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night in just about any Saskatchewan town or city, and you’ll likely be waiting in line for a table.
The economy is still doing well. New jobs are being created, and the population continues to grow. All of those people who are moving to Saskatchewan need a place to live, and that’s why I think Saskatchewan house prices are probably about where they should be, and I don’t foresee any major changes one way or the other in the foreseeable future. There is a pretty good balance between supply and demand, and like in a lot of other things, with the housing market there is strength in numbers.