Real estate open houses to start up again

SASKATOON Open houses can be added to the list of things returning to a new normal as businesses shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic begin resuming operations in Saskatchewan.

“I think it was important that early on we took the right steps,” said Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA) CEO Jason Yochim of the decision to halt open houses back in March.

Yochim credited that early intervention, along with further commitments to social distancing undertaken as the pandemic has unfolded, with helping make both clients and agents more comfortable, and thus helping to cushion what was expected to be a dire downturn in the housing market.

“When we first got into this situation in early March, we were quite concerned,” Yochim said.

The association initially projected a 75 per cent drop in sales. With that in mind, Yochim said a 50 per cent drop in Saskatchewan home sales seen in April came as a relief. He said May numbers are sitting at about 80 per cent of their yearover-year total.

The SRA is requiring health disclosure surveys and contact information records to aid in contact tracing in the event someone tests positive for COVID -19 after attending an open house. The events will be limited to two clients, plus the attending agent, in a house at a time.

All customers will be expected to sanitize their hands upon entering a home, and will not be allowed to touch anything. They’ll also be required to wear shoes or disposable booties on their feet.