Saskatoon Real Estate

One of the things I have heard a lot of since moving back to Saskatchewan is that we are not a ‘have’ province and that other provinces are better than us. Even in Saskatchewan Real Estate, before the absolute house pricing peak we had in the spring of 2008, I heard of people ‘waiting for the market to crash’ and ‘waiting for the prices to drop by 50%’ and come back to the pre-boom Saskatchewan house prices. I tried to educate people about our market and our province and our economy, but the fact of the matter is some people just like the doom and gloom and it makes them feel better if they waited to buy a home in Saskatoon and have now found that they cannot get started in the market. Many people have convinced themselves that, if they wait long enough to buy a house in Saskatoon, they will get a 50% discount. They tend to forget that our province has come leaps and bounds and is recognized world wide for our strength in commodities.

I have a hard time understanding how an entire province can be brainwashed to believe that we are not as good as other provinces in our country when the facts are there and the proof is evident. As John Gormley told his audience on October 21, 2008, maybe this is because “when things were good, it was always ‘keep your expectations low’ under the NDP”. As he says, the prevailing psychology is that this is all going to end soon. We true Saskatchewanians, even though most of us haven’t lived through a depression or the dirty thirties, still have heard of gopher stew. This mentality has bred a deep cautiousness in our bones, which may not be a bad thing.

The Premier knows it, so his tax cuts and expenditures come with an insurance plan: nearly $2 Billion for the Growth and Financial Security Fund, promising to keep the government in the black should commodities go further down.

The tax cuts that are going to be in place are calculated to target lower income earners.

Having earned the ‘have’ status in 2006, Saskatchewan has done some things right such as overturning the 16 year NDP reign for a more business friendly Saskatchewan Party. Workers are finally moving in from other provinces and countries instead of moving out. We still have a ways to go to matching Alberta’s lower flat tax, property tax, and lack of provincial sales tax, but we are gaining quickly.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Despite the global market conditions and the lack of economic stability in much of Canada, Saskatchewan seems to be a strong leader and has shown this through the mid year financial report that shows a surplus of $2.3 billion and debt has been reduced this year by 40% to over $4 billion.

With the threat of recession everywhere, Finance Minister, Rod Gantefour, remains cautiously optimistic as oil has weakened and our economy is commodity driven.

While our economy used to be associated primarily with agriculture, we are now associated with potash, gold, uranium, nuclear energy, diamonds, oil, and the list goes on. We are finally a ‘have’ province and Saskatchewan continues to outpace other provinces on key economic indicators. What does this mean? More people are still being drawn to our province. The Saskatoon real estate market has appeared to slow down and also appears to have gone down in price, however there are still many people buying houses in Saskatoon.

For more information on this please feel free to contact me anytime.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

About a month ago I was contacted by CBC National to speak about the real estate market in Saskatoon and to set them up with one of my many clients from Alberta that was migrating to Saskatchewan. I was thrilled at the opportunity and put them in touch with one of my candid and fun clients; I had many to choose from though, it was hard! But I put them in contact with one of my clients who, when I asked ‘Why are you moving to Saskatoon” he quoted “We are following the money!” so I figured he and his wife would be the best ones to talk to.

Just last week I met up with one of the producers who came out to Saskatoon to do a story on real estate in Saskatchewan and how the Saskatoon real estate boom has affected everyone; good and bad. I spent a few hours with him over 2 days and we had a blast. He wanted to learn about housing prices in Saskatoon and how they changed over the past 16 months so we did a few drive bys in different locations to go over the prices from late 2006 and early 2007 until now. I am hoping they don’t put too negative of a spin on how real estate has impacted Saskatoon and Saskatchewan as I would say that most of us notice when the media grabs on to our market boom and that almost scares people away. Some people think we have maxed out, but with the mining sectors doubling in size in the next few years, people have to move here from somewhere! Sure right now we are experiencing more listings than we have seen in the Saskatoon real estate market for over a year, but we are finally in a more balanced market again. People are dropping some of their prices to be more appropriate, but that doesn’t mean house prices are falling in Saskatoon. So for people who are thinking of investing in the future of Saskatoon and looking for properties to rent to the loads of people who have no where to live, this is a great time to buy a home in Saskatoon. Buyers and investors don’t have to buy without seeing, they have the luxury now of choosing from a few properties for sale in Saskatoon. So, for those who are scared to buy as they are fearing a recession from the US, I say you must be more aware of what is happening in Saskatchewan’s economy as it is strong and unlike the US in any way!

So, I will post another blog when I know the story will be aired!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.