(Photo 210419 © Gjs | Dreamstime.com)

By Cam Lee

Melfort housing market

Melfort housing market remains relatively steady in 2023

Dec 18, 2023 | 3:37 PM

The housing market was busy in Melfort in 2023, despite the higher interest rates.

Prairie Skies Realty broker Robyn Luthi told northeastNOW the market was stable during the year, especially compared to 2020 and 2021 when COVID and extremely low interest rates played a factor in some market volatility.

Luthi said the number of market listings dropped by about 15 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year. The number of sales went down slightly as well.

However, as of the end of November, the average sale price of a house in Melfort increased from roughly $200,000 last year to $219,000 in 2023.

The most popular price points in 2023 were in the $150,000-$200,000 and $250,000-$300,000 price ranges, Luthi said.

Twist on a classic

Regina board game designer puts new spin on crokinole

15h ago

Spring in Saskatchewan

Calm, dry weather expected across much of Saskatchewan over Easter weekend

15h ago

Tribute projects

Progress on Humboldt Broncos memorial continues eight years after tragic crash

15h ago

There is one issue that continues to be problematic for real estate professionals province-wide, and Melfort is no exception.

“Issues we’re still running into are lack of inventory,” Luthi explained. “We simply don’t have enough inventory on the market to sustain the amount of buyers that we have.”

The market averaged 42 active listings per month, while the average house spent approximately 63 days on market before it sold.

One of the major topics in real estate has been the higher interest rate, which has been affecting housing markets in major urban areas like Toronto and Vancouver. However, Luthi said the rates haven’t seem to made much of an impact closer to home.

“We’re still in a market where people still need to find housing,” Luthi explained. “More of the problems that we’re running into is just that we don’t have enough inventory on the market.”

That isn’t to say the interest rate situation hasn’t meant a change in purchasing plans in the Melfort area.

“Buyers are a little more particular and understand what they’re after moreso than say a few years ago when the interest rates were just so low everyone was just buying to buy at that point,” Luthi said.

Looking ahead to 2024, Luthi told northeastNOW the housing market should follow the stable trend that we saw in 2023, and she doesn’t expect interest rates to change too significantly one way or another.

She said it may be a good time for people waiting to make a decision on whether to sell their home to reach out to their real estate agent, with inventory at certain price points at very low levels.