July 2019 Real Estate Market Update

THE REGINA MARKET MOVES TOWARDS BALANCE

Based on activity through the Regina and area MLS® System, homes sales for the region and the city in July were near and above 2018 levels respectively, but below long-term averages, said the Association of Regna REALTORS® Inc.

There were 314 sales reported during the month in all geographic areas, down 1.6% from 2018 when 319 sales were posted. July totals are well below the 5-year average of 329 and 10-year average of 347 sales. There were 254 sales reported in the city, up 5.3% from 2018 when 240 were posted. The number of sales in the city are also below the 5-year average of 284 and 10-year average of 261.

For the year-to-date, 1,903 homes have been sold in all areas, down less than a percentage point over last year. In the city, 1,587 sales have been posted, up 4.8% from 2018.

For July, the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), a much more accurate measure of housing price trends than average or median price, reported a Composite Benchmark Price of $269,400 and index of 247.3 in the city, level from last month, and down 4.4% from $281,900 one year ago. This reflects a general downward trend, indicating downward pressure on home prices due predominately to elevated supply levels and lower levels of demand. The Composite Benchmark Price is down 9.6% from five years ago. The HPI measures residential price trends based on four benchmark home types, with the index set at a base of 100 for January 2005.

Total dollar sales volume in all areas was $92.9M, a decrease of 3.2% from 2018’s $96M. Year-to-date dollar volume is down near $570M, down just over 1% from 2018 at this time.

In the city, there were 1,624 active residential listings for sale on the market at the end of July, down 7.2% from 2018’s 1751, however still well above historical levels.

There were 650 new listings placed on the MLS® System during the month in all geographic areas, level from 2018’s 649. For the year-to-date, new listings of 4,441 are down 9.1% from 4,887 in 2018.

There were 496 listings posted in the city, compared to 514 last year – a decrease of 3.5%. Year-todate, new listings in the city are down 9.3% - 3,388 this year compared to 3,737 in 2018.

The ratio of sales to new listings for the month was 51% in the city and 48% all geographic areas. Balanced market conditions are generally in the 40-60% range – below 40% is considered to be more of a buyer’s market - above 60% is considered to be a market favouring sellers. We caution that this would need to persist for a number of more months before the market would be considered to be in balance.

Comparing the number of sales for the month against the number of listings for sale, there was 6.3 months of inventory on the market at the end of July. This is down from 7 months last year.

“Although sales for the city are below 5 and 10-year averages, they have jumped over numbers posted in July of ’16,’17, and ‘18, which is good news for the overall market”, said Rob Reynar, Manager of Operations of the Association of Regina REALTORS® Inc.

“The market appears to be swinging more into balance as we continue through the summer months.” Concluded Reynar.

From: ASSOCIATION OF REGINA REALTORS® INC.