Regina Housing Market Update - January 2011

Warm Start to 2011 Housing Sales

Posted: February 2, 2011

Despite the cold weather in January, Regina and area’s MLS® System housing sales were off to a warm start for the new year, said the Association of Regina REALTORS® Inc.

For the entire MLS® System, including all geographic areas, 215 sales were reported in January, up 17% from 2010’s 183. This was the second highest number of sales for the month in the past ten-year period, only behind 2008 when 253 sales were reported. Inside the city there were 179 sales, an increase of 16% over 2010’s 154 sales.

The MLS® average price in January of $260,133 set a new high for the month. It was up 8% over the previous high set in 2010 of $240,274. In the city, the average price was $267,165, up 12% over last year’s $238,589.

The combination of sales and average price generated a new record for January’s total sales dollar volume of $55.9M, an increase of 27% over the previous high set in 2010 of $44.0M. Dollar volume in the city also set a new high of $47.8M, surpassing the previous record set in 2010 of $36.7M. Homes sold were on the market for an average of 43 days before selling at an average of 96.9% of the asking price.

For all MLS® System geographic areas there were 981 active listings on the market at the end of the January, including 570 in the city. This compares to 923 active listings at the end of 2010, bringing five consecutive months of falling inventory to an end. There were 404 new listings placed on the MLS® System during the month, an increase of 17% over last year’s 345.

“Despite the cold weather in January, people were looking for and buying homes. Although there may have been some demand pulled ahead due to mortgage rules tightening later this year, population and economic growth are continuing to buoy the market,” said Gord Archibald, Executive Officer of the Association of Regina REALTORS® Inc.

“We were also encouraged to see an increase in new listings during the month. This will add to the inventory of listings, provide more choice to buyers and help moderate any upward pressure on prices. Provided the economy performs well, we are anticipating another good year for the market in 2011,” concluded Archibald.

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