The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed impressive year-over-year appreciation for condominiums in Saskatoon, while detached bungalows and standard two-storey homes posted healthy gains.
Standard condominiums posted a price increase of 10.3 per cent to an average price of $261,333. Detached bungalows increased 4.1 per cent to $352,500 and standard two-storey homes increased slightly by 3.2 per cent to $384,000.
“Fairly limited selection of desirable options across housing types has pushed prices up over the past year,” said Norm Fisher, Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate. “However, in recent months, the market seems to be changing, offering a somewhat more balanced environment than we've seen over the past few years.”
Nationally, house prices remained relatively flat in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012, recording that the average price of a home in Canada increased between 1.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent.
In the first quarter of 2013, the national average price of a standard two-storey home increased 2.2 per cent, compared to the previous year. Over the same period, the national average price of a detached bungalow increased 2.4 per cent and the average price of a standard condominium increased 1.2 per cent.
“2013 finds the Canadian housing industry in a highly unusual place. The combination of very low mortgage rates and flat home prices, against a background of general economic improvement across the nation, is not something we’ve seen before,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage. “Typically one of these variables is moving hard in an opposite direction. While some have spoken loudly about impending market volatility and dramatic downward pressure on home prices, we are simply not seeing evidence of this. The current environment is very supportive for housing. Those waiting for big declines in home prices will likely be disappointed.”