Home sales are off to a weak start for 2019 in the Battlefords. (file photo/LethbridgeNewsNOW) : Tyler Marr

By Tyler Marr

For Sale

Battlefords home sales off to slow start in 2019

Mar 5, 2019 | 1:19 PM

Home sales are off to a slow start in the Battlefords.

As of the end of February, just 32 homes sold in the region, a 25.6 per cent decline year-over-year, according to the latest numbers from the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors (SRAR).

In 2018, 43 properties sold in the same time period, though 26 moved in 2017.

Each property sold so far in 2019 was on the market for an average of 122 days, an exponential increase from just 71 last year and on par with the 2012 numbers, which were the highest in nine years.

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Within North Battleford and Battleford, there were just 16 sales for the same time period, a drop of nearly 43 per cent. Only 10 properties moved last month, compared to 16 in 2018 but nine in 2017.

The average number of days a home sat on the market was 90, the highest since 2012 when it took around 97 days to sell a home.

The total value of homes sold within both communities as of Feb. 28 is half of the amount sold in 2018, at just $3,416,000. A similar picture is painted regionally, with total sales amounting to $5,968,800, down 41.6 per cent compared to 2018.

Homes are selling for approximately $213,500 in the Battlefords and just $186,525 regionally. However, in February, homes sold above these averages at $241,450 within the community and $223,059 around the region.

Properties in the city and town have sold for nearly 95 per cent of the asking price, while those outside sold for 93.4.

Although the average price is commonly referenced as a barometer for the market, it can be easily skewed from one period to the next, depending on which price ranges had the most sales, the report from SRAR said.

As of the end of February, 50 new listings have popped up on MLS within both communities, down significantly from 2018 when there were 79. Regionally, 104 homes entered the market, a slump of 31. 6 per cent from 152 last year.

A December report from SRAR showed home sales in the region slid 12 per cent in 2018 and 22 per cent within North Battleford and Battleford.

—

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr