Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, home sales in Regina are booming.
Sales were up 75.5 percent year-over-year in January, going from 110 to 193.
Regina Realtor Brin Werrett says they usually see an uptick in sales towards the spring, but this year has been particularly busy already.
“This year kind of took us by surprise, we’ve been busy right through Christmas, and the phones really started ringing on January 4th,” said Werrett. “I’m not surprised to see this uptick in activity, especially with these low interest rates, we’re seeing mortgages, I’ve heard of 0.99 (percent), but I’ve seen a lot at 1.5-1.6 percent, which is quite low compared to the last few years. It’s keeping us busy.”
Werrett thinks one of the reasons home sales keep rising is because people are spending more and more time at home.
“I think maybe it’s folks that have decided now they want a little more house, or maybe a little less house, or maybe even a house instead of renting. Then the interest rates are just keeping people busy,” said Werrett. “People are still getting married, people are still having babies, and just always have that housing need still.”
He says many in the real estate industry were worried about how the pandemic would affect home sales, so seeing numbers like this has been a pleasant surprise.
“Just seeing that activity, it surprised a lot of us by continuing on 2020, which was a really strong year compared to what we’ve had the past few years,” said Werrett. “2021 is already looking like it might blow that out of the water too.”
Werrett says the market seems to be favouring sellers, so if anyone is thinking of selling their home, now may be the right time.