Real estate sales were up in Saskatchewan and in the city of Saskatoon this past year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saskatchewan Realtors Association, CEO, Jason Yochim says the province was up 19%, as there were 13,420 sales in 2020 an increase of 2166 compared to 2019. In Saskatoon sales were 4106, an increase of 13% year to date.

Initially when lockdowns hit in March, Yochim suggests sales were expected to drop off and then recover when restrictions lessened, but weren’t expected to be as strong or long lasting as they became. He suggests low interest rates created opportunities for buyers, and lower inventory levels, motivated buyers.

With lower inventory levels, Yochim expects prices to bump up a little bit, but not in an extreme way, in 2021.
He hopes to see more inventory come into the market place as sellers see an opportunity to fill that void.
Yochim says a big part of the buyer demand will depend on confidence in the economy, and low interest rates.
He explains if pandemic numbers begin to go down again, that should give consumers even more confidence in 2021.

Yochim says these sales are a great economic generator for additional dollars in the business community, with the average transaction generating about $53,000 in additional spending for renovations, landscaping, appliances, moving costs, realtor and legal fees.