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Regina is a buyer’s market for houses and condos as local real estate reports continue to blame the downturn in the natural resource sector for declining prices.
According to the Royal LePage House Price Survey released on Wednesday, the average of median price across all categories of housing in Regina dropped to $329,366.
The price of a two-storey home declined by 2.7 per cent year over year to $400,006 while the price of a bungalow dipped by 0.2 per cent to $299,178.
Mike Duggleby, a broker and managing partner with Royal LePage Regina Realty, said the gradual slide in prices can be linked to the recent dip in the provincial economy.
“I think as most people understand, resources play a huge part in the economy in Saskatchewan and Regina and in the last little bit we’ve seen some pretty encouraging news in potash with the merger between Agrium and PotashCorp, and even since we’ve written the report there’s been a little bit of a surge in oil prices,” Duggleby said in an interview with the 980 CJME Morning Show Wednesday.
He said he is optimistic that the housing market will improve in the second half of 2018.
“I’ve been talking to my compatriots in the oil-producing areas of the province, and they’re telling me that pretty much everyone is back to work.”
Median condo prices showed a significant decrease of 5.7 per cent compared to last year down to $231,692.
Duggleby said Regina’s condo market was suffering from an oversupply of apartment-style condo units built under government incentives to improve the rental vacancy rate.
“It’s not that they’re not selling, it’s just (there are) so many of them to be sold that it’s going to take a little bit of time to clear up that inventory.”
A decade after the housing boom in the Queen City, local realtors also reported a sluggish year for home sales in 2017.