The listing price of a home in Saskatoon and Regina continues to grow further apart as years of low inventory and high demand continue to drive up the price of a home. The Saskatchewan Realtors Association released its monthly market report on Monday. The benchmark price of a home in Saskatoon rose to a record $448,400 in June, up from $444,400 in May. Regina also hit new highs with a benchmark price of $356,400 in June, up from $350,200 in May. The roughly five per cent rise in both cities has added to a growing disparity in home prices between the province’s two major cities, with Saskatoon’s benchmark home price is now $92,000 more expensive than Regina’s. “Two cities that are, you know, two-and-a-half hours apart, but have two very different stories to tell right now in how they build out their cities, how they attract people, how affordable they are — and I think people will start asking questions,” Saskatchewan Realtors Association CEO Chris Guérette said. Guérette says while each city has its own unique culture and economy, the large difference is cause for concern with low housing inventory affecting both cities. However, she says that, of the four major costs to building a home — material, labour, land and taxes — the way both cities are growing are affecting home prices. “Are we adding the least amount of taxes possible onto our homes and our development and our growth to sustain that?” she said. A report from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association in March 2025 calculated total fees among major cities across the country. Saskatoon had the highest municipal charges for low-rise homes among prairie cities — and some of the highest in the country — with an average cost of $112,200 per unit. Regina was among the most affordable at $29,500. “There’s a trickle-down effect years down the road of affordability,” Guérette said. “And unfortunately, that future homeowner is not sitting at that table saying, ‘Hey, watch out, because in three years I’m going to buy a home. It’s going to be five per cent more expensive and I’ll be financing the growth of the city through my mortgage.’” Regina realtor Craig Adam says the differences between Regina and Saskatoon have always had home prices higher in the Bridge City. Regina is a government town, reliant on government jobs for economic growth, while Saskatoon is more entrepreneurial and geographically central, helping it grow quicker. The old rule of thumb was about a 10 per cent price difference between the two cities. Craig says now homes in Saskatoon are 25 to 30 per cent more expensive on average. “That $300,000 house in Regina is now pushing $390,000 in Saskatoon, so that gap has really widened in the last few years,” Adam said. The benchmark price of a home in Saskatoon is more expensive than that of Edmonton or Winnipeg, and there are no signs of it slowing down anytime soon. “We saw a place that three days ago it was listed for $690,000 and it ended up selling for like $140,000 more than it was listed for,” Saskatoon mortgage broker Conrad Neufeldt said. “So, we’re still seeing significant overbids.” Craig says both Regina and Saskatoon have roughly 350 active listings for single-family homes, but considering Saskatoon’s larger population, he says it is caught in a worsening supply problem where demand greatly outpaces supply and leads to overbidding on desirable homes. Neufeldt expects the market to continue this way for a few more months before cooling in the fall and winter. With the housing market being so volatile over the last few years, he says buyers can only put up with so much, and prices will eventually have to come down. “I would suspect that we’re going to see some slowing of the music,” he said. “We’ve really shifted from people buying at their pre-qualification range, and now a lot of them are trying to buy over their pre-qualification range because they just don’t qualify for the house prices that exist right now. It’s a really big struggle.” Adam says less government intervention may help developers build more homes to meet the demand for growth, but real estate always has a way of adjusting. “I think the biggest thing is markets will eventually correct themselves,” he said.
