Saskatchewan is Canada’s real estate story for 2007: Royal LePage
Canada’s real estate market posted significant gains in the fourth quarter of 2007 and showed little sign of the traditional seasonal slowdown. Average house prices continued to increase in the fourth quarter with many markets experiencing double-digit gains, according to a House Price Survey report released today by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
The fourth quarter 2007 was surprisingly strong, with unseasonably high price increases and unwavering demand, said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. The strength of the market was apparent throughout the country, largely due to positive economic fundamentals. The value and export-demand for our natural resources has underpinned high employment rates, providing Canadians with confidence in the future stability of their jobs and their local residential real estate markets.
Mirroring the pattern seen throughout most of 2007, it was the prairies that continued to dominate in price appreciation, with markets such as Regina and Saskatoon experiencing price increases as significant as 50 per cent. While agriculture is still a significant contributor to the regional economy, natural resources such as oil, gas, potash and uranium continued to drive exceptional growth in the area.
Homeowners in Saskatchewan saw property prices appreciate at a much higher rate than anywhere else in Canada, reflecting the relative affordability of homes in the region, and a shortage in supply relative to the booming demand for home ownership. The combination of a spike in the number of available jobs, the reasonable cost of living, and the attractiveness of the prairie lifestyle led to an unprecedented number of people searching for homes.
Read the Royal LePage National House Price Survey release here
Read the Royal LePage Saskatchewan House Price Survey release here
Read today’s Star Phoenix, “House prices soar in quarter” here
Read today’s Star Phoenix, “Saskatoon market expected to stabilize” here