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Housing in Estevan now a buyers' market

More options and slightly lower prices have provided residents in Estevan a much-needed break from the city’s ongoing housing dilemma.
real estate review
With more availability in the housing market, which includes condos, townhouses and other options, city realtors are calling present conditions a buyers' market.

More options and slightly lower prices have provided residents in Estevan a much-needed break from the city’s ongoing housing dilemma.

“We have probably, the best selection we’ve had in a number of years in terms of styles and price ranges,” said Lynn Chipley, owner of Century 21 Border Real Estate. “Prices have relaxed somewhat from the crazy times of 2012, which is a good thing for buyers and perhaps not as good for sellers, but we still have a high market.”

The admirable shape of the housing market has actually come as a bit of a surprise to Chipley.

“With the clean coal project coming to an end, and with different things happening in the oil industry, I was concerned that we might have a dreadful year, but we didn’t have a dreadful year at all,” she said.

A few factors come into play when it comes to the surprisingly quiet, yet steady, housing market in the Energy City, Chipley said.

With the oilfields and energy sectors still largely determining the trend of housing in the city, the completions of major projects at SaskPower and the lower oil prices have likely contributed to the recent shift in prices and availability.

“It’s just the nature of the industry and both of those industries have their push times, but there are the occasional blips,” she said. “Farming is in the background, too and contributes to that solid base. It’s all interwoven to an extent.”

Lower interest rates have made an impact as well, she said.

Chipley noted there was a 25 per cent dip in sales this year, a seemingly significant drop when compared with their peak years. However, the increase in availability, she said, is for the most part, what has shaped that outcome.

“If you have 50 houses and 40 buyers that’s different than when you have 100 buyers and 30 houses, which is the difference in the market right now,” she said.

The rapid condominium development in Estevan has played a role in how the market stands today, said Josh LeBlanc, realtor for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Prairieview.

“There’s definitely a surplus of condos and townhomes in the market right now,” he said. “If you look at North Point and Petterson Point, I’ve had units that last spring were selling for $279,000 and this fall we’re selling them for $215,000.”

Chipley said the simultaneous emergence of the North Point and Marisa condo complexes, perhaps came at a time when the need for those complexes was already filled by previous apartment buildings.

“The three buildings that went up at the same time were obviously in demand because all three of them were sold before they were completed, so the demand was there for that,” she said. “Then two more buildings went up at the same time and by then, we were probably serving the market fairly well.”

She said if the construction of North Point and Marisa were spread out over a two-year period, the surplus may have been avoided. Chipley added, however, that the units will be absorbed; it may just take a little longer. Marisa has since become a rentable condominium, which Chipley said has been well received by the public.

LeBlanc said it’s important the city maintains strong ties with developers, despite the current surplus.

“We have great developers in the city that are answering our calls,” he said. “We need to continue to have those strong relationships with developers, so when we maybe see round two or three of this boom, they’re still going to want to work with us.”

Single-family homes have been steady in sales this year. Chipley noted 156 single family homes that have been sold in 2014. Seventy-five per cent of those have been priced under $400,000, which she said has largely been the norm for a long time. This year’s prices, interestingly enough, haven’t entirely coincided with the city’s trend of a 40 per cent price increase over a five-year period, and have instead, dropped slightly. Over the past 10 years, prices have actually doubled.

Affordable accommodation, LeBlanc said, is something the city still lacks, but he is optimistic about the city’s future when it comes to housing, especially when they factor in the oil and energy sectors, which play big roles in how the market is shaped year after year.

“A lot of work has to be done at the civic level when it comes to attracting rental families to become permanent residents, but we’re also resource-based and that will fluctuate a lot.”