High real estate inventories stand out in 2019 Swift Current real estate market wrap-up

Inventory continues to inch higher while sales remain sluggish in the Swift Current real estate market, according to yearend statistics released this week.

City real estate veteran Kelsey Adam with Century

21 Accord Realty, shed some light on how 2019 wrapped up.

“In 22 years, I don’t remember inventory levels being this high,” he said in his annual year-end market review.

The Trenlii Market Report shows there were 225 residential properties on the market at the end of the year, up 22.28 per cent from the 184 that were on the market this time a year ago.

“When you see those figures climbing from 163 in 2017 and 137 in 2016, you get a feel for how the amount of homes on the market has been steadily increasing,” Adam commented.

In 2019, there were 570 new listings come on the market, which is an increase over the 542 that came on the previous year. The city realized 534 new listings in 2017 and 521 in 2016. Sales, in turn, have been on the decline, with 221 properties selling on the MLS® system in Swift Current last year. This is down 10 per cent from the 246 sales in 2018, which was itself down 12 per cent from 2017’s sales of 275.

“We haven’t seen sales numbers this low since 2003,” mused Adam, “and that coupled with an increasing inventory means that people have to be modest with their asking prices and patient with the amount of time it can take to sell a home.”

The average days for a home to sell in 2019 was 98.43 days, compared to just over 87 days the previous year, and as low as 67 days in 2016. The average sale price has also dropped. After hovering at the $274,000 mark for the past three years, it dipped six per cent to $257,000 in 2019.

“These numbers are just a snapshot,” concluded Adam. “Everyone’s situation is unique so to know how this all affects a specific property, you should still contact a real estate professional for advice.”