‘A tense situation’: Sask. housing in short supply as industry grapples with U.S. trade war

WATCH: Saskatchewan real estate groups are sounding the alarm about a shortage of housing stock on the market right now.

There’s a national housing shortage in Canada and, according to those in the industry, it’s even more serious here in Saskatchewan.

Industry leaders attribute the low stock of homes for sale to lingering pandemic effects and increased immigration. Now, uncertainty over Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S. adds more complexity to the picture.

The real estate industry is feeling the stress of a low supply of houses up for sale in the province, and since buying a house is one of the biggest financial decisions in life, the head of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association says it’s causing concern.

“Now what we’re hearing from our boots on the ground — the members who are out there working for their clients — that this is increasingly become becoming a tense situation,” said Chris Guérette, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association.

There’s only a two-month supply of homes for sale on the market in Saskatoon. In normal times that would be four to six months of supply. That means if no new homes went up for sale, all of them would be sold in two months. Demand to buy is very high right now and has been for a few years.

“So that means individuals, when they’re looking at homes, they’re not the only ones looking at it. They have to move very quickly to view properties. They have to move, probably quicker than is comfortable to put an offer,” Guérette told CTV News.

Saskatoon’s Camponi Housing Corporation is bracing for the impact U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs will have on construction costs.

Camponi’s 73-unit project in the Blairmore neighbourhood in Saskatoon is slated to open in July, but three future projects that would add about 260 units aren’t in the works yet.

“Tariffs are going to result in increased construction costs, making some of these projects either unaffordable or it’s going to end up increasing the costs,” said Angela Bishop, trustee chair with the Camponi Housing Corporation.

Camponi is a Métis housing provider and is starting to source supplies that are Indigenous, Canadian or from Saskatchewan, where possible.

“It makes good business sense to look locally first, and it makes more sense today than it did in the past,” she says.

The Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association (SRHBA) says the industry is used to tariffs on things like lumber and drywall.

Karen Kobussen, SRHBA director of strategic growth, says housing starts and building permit approvals are currently doing well. What she does worry about is a softening of the Canadian economy.

“That will affect the housing market, in that, if people are losing jobs, if people are not able to, you know, afford mortgages, mortgage payments,” Kobussen said.

“There may be individuals on the sidelines who are deciding, this is not for me until we figure out this relationship with the United States and there are still a lot of unknowns right now. I mean, we are watching markets,” Guerette says.

That wait and see approach is reflected across much of the housing market right now.

“We’re trying to hunker down and, survive, the next couple of months to see what the actual results will be,” she said.