Paul Martin's Business Update - September 10th, 2014

What a difference 150 miles can make.

A new report on the state of the new home construction market in the province’s major cities shows a divergence – Saskatoon is going up, Regina is going down.

The housing market – the new home construction market in particular – has been going through some interesting changes lately. After a decade of playing catch up, builders are finally closing the gap between demand and supply. But, it appears the Regina builders got there first.

CMHC’s latest trend analysis – an examination of where the markets are heading – shows Saskatoon continues to expand. And in the first eight months of the year they commenced nearly 2,800 new units, an increase of 700 over last year. Regina, on the other hand, saw a decline of 600 to roughly 1,300.

The six-month trend in Regina shows a somewhat less dramatic decline – down about 100 when tracking on a seasonally adjusted basis. But the point of differentiation is clear. Regina has caught up and Saskatoon still has some distance to go in keeping up with population increases.

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