Realtors’ association gives go-ahead to stage open houses

Open houses are back, thanks to Re-Open Saskatchewan.

In a media release Monday, the Saskatchewan Realtors Association announced its members once again can stage open houses — provided new health and safety measures are followed.

The association put a halt to open houses when the COVID-19 pandemic started in the province.

“I’m really impressed by the performance of our members during these times … They’ve gone above and beyond to protect those buyers and sellers who really needed to move or find a home,” Jason Yochim, the association’s CEO, said in the release.

“Many of the measures that will be in place are already common practice for those times when a buyer really needs to see a home before they make a purchase, so our members are well-prepared to manage a visit safely.”

The new measures will limit the number of people in the house to two at a time (plus the realtor).

Everyone will have to sanitize when they enter, not touch anything when they’re in the house, wear shoes and/over disposable booties on the feet, and abide by social distancing guidelines.

Anyone else who attends will be asked to wait outside either in a socially distant lineup or in their cars.

Health disclosure surveys and contact information records to aid in contact tracing in case someone tests positive after attending an open house also will be required.

According to the association, early estimates predicted COVID-19 would cause a 75 per cent drop in activity in the province’s real estate market, but April’s statistics showed an average decrease of only about 50 per cent.

“The economic impact to the market was better than we expected but still pretty tough on many of our members,” Yochim said. “I am quite confident the markets will improve.

“There is a lot of pent-up demand out there for both buyers and sellers who held off while the pandemic was in full swing.”