Saskatchewan house prices double in last 11 years

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - October 23, 2017) - A nationwide study conducted by CENTURY 21 Canada shows that the price-per-square foot of homes in Saskatoon rose 109% since 2006 and 191% in the past 20 years. Regina saw a price-per-square-foot rise of 92% and 170% respectively. Saskatoon has traditionally had slightly higher per-square-foot prices than Regina, but this gap has widened by over 12% in the last decade. Saskatoon has passed Edmonton on a price-per-square foot basis.

The study gathered the price-per-square-foot for a typical home across the major towns and cities in Canada from Victoria to St John's in 1997, 2006 and 2017. It used CENTURY 21's independently owned and operated franchised real estate offices from the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island to the Atlantic shores of Newfoundland.

Executive Vice-President Brian Rushton says economic data backs up the increase. "Recent data collected from the 2016 Census shows Saskatchewan has had the highest growth in median incomes in the country in the last ten years, and the higher prices are well supported. Despite the increases, the market has been quite stable."

"The mid-range homes in the $300,000 to $400,000 range are actively selling," says Gary Busch of Fusion Realty in Saskatoon. "Once you reach that half-million dollar mark it takes a bit longer for the homes to sell. On the other end of the spectrum, we have a huge supply of condos on the market."

CENTURY 21 also conducted a survey of more than 1000 of its agents from across the nation, recording buyer's opinions, their likes, dislikes and what they are looking for in a home.

The results show that updated finishings are the important added feature to 60% of Saskatchewan buyers, and 13% are looking for energy efficiency in a home. Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia buyers care most about square footage compared to other provinces. The biggest turn-offs for buyers are water damage (38%) and renovations which are not to a buyer's liking (24%). The survey shows that a renovated kitchen will give the highest returns when selling.

Complete National results, and a downloadable video interview are available at: www.century21.ca/ppsf2017

Notes to Editor:

About CENTURY 21 Canada®
CENTURY 21 Canada Limited Partnership (century21.ca) is a real estate master franchisor with complete rights to the CENTURY 21® brand in Canada.

The CENTURY 21 System is one of the world's largest and most recognized residential real estate franchise sales organization with approximately 7,450 independently owned and operated franchised real estate offices worldwide and over 115,000 sales professionals. CENTURY 21 provides comprehensive technology, marketing, training, management, and administrative support for its members in 79 countries and territories worldwide.

How the information was gathered by CENTURY 21 Canada
In the past, as seen in the data table for 1997 and 2006, CENTURY 21 Canada asked franchise owners around the country to define a 'typical' home in their area and provide the sales price and average square footage. For most, it was a single-family detached home, and the size depended on province, city, and neighbourhood. CENTURY 21 Canada released annual results in their Typical Home Price Survey.

In 2017, CENTURY 21 franchisees were asked to help come up with the average price-per-square-foot in their market. However, calculating a precise number is not an exact science as every office and province tracks statistics slightly differently. As a result, some have used either the average or benchmark prices (depending on the market) and tracked average square footage in sales from January 1- June 30, 2017. The price-per-square-foot was calculated from those numbers. Each franchisee has confirmed that that the numbers provided are an accurate representation of their market.

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