Melfort housing inventory remains at historic lows

“We have quite a few buyers in the area, and there’s just nothing to buy,” Luthi said. “It’s becoming extremely frustrating for buyers.”

Luthi said it’s a Catch-22, as the sellers are also in the same predicament – if they sell, where do they go?

“We’re in a cycle right now where it’s hard to get out of because there’s not enough inventory on the market.”

As of the writing of this article, there were 11 active listings in Melfort. Three already had offers on them. Luthi said few of the active listings were in the price range many people seek, between $250,000 and $400,000.

“We just aren’t seeing enough inventory come on the market in that price right now,” Luthi explained.

The housing inventory issue is not a new one. Luthi said there has been a shortage for the past few years, and it’s not limited to Melfort. She said Real Estate Magazine recently posted an article about the tight inventory across Saskatchewan. When properties come up for sale in many areas of Saskatchewan, including Melfort, Luthi said that many have multiple offers on the listing, often over asking price.

The market hasn’t even benefitted from seniors moving into smaller properties to downsize, like apartments, duplexes, or a home with no basement. Luthi said they don’t have those properties on the market and added it would be great to see some of the developers in the area build some. However, with the cost of building materials, it’s tough for developers to build those properties with an adequate profit margin. Subsequently, the seniors wanting to downsize haven’t been able to because there is nowhere for them to go either.

The cost of building a house has also gone up significantly since the pandemic. Luthi said she had a buyer, frustrated about the lack of properties for sale, look into building a house, but it would have been out of their price point.

Luthi suggested that building incentives, whether municipal or federal, could help those smaller builders put up new inventory for buyers to purchase to help unclog the market. However, she isn’t optimistic about the situation clearing up in the short term.

“I don’t foresee it changing in the near future at all,” Luthi said. “I think this year we’re going to see a similar trend that we did last year.

Realtors in Melfort have been trying to call people possibly looking to sell in the future to see if they’re interested in doing so, but Luthi said they have indicated they would have no place to move.

Despite the inventory standstill, Luthi said the markets in Saskatchewan are busy, bucking the trend seen in areas like Toronto and Vancouver and other areas of Canada that have seen activity slow significantly.

“We just are lacking the inventory.”

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

by Cam Lee

Melfort housing inventory remains at historic lows

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