The price of building a new house is falling faster in Saskatoon than just about anywhere in Canada – and it’s the builders who are feeling the squeeze.
The monthly report on the cost of new home construction issued by StatsCan for August shows the price of a new build in Saskatoon was down three-tenths of a percentage point in August. That was the same decline as in Oshawa and only one city in the country – the Ontario side of Ottawa – saw a bigger drop.
On their breakdown, the costs also showed that land prices continued to rise in major prairie cities while builders were dropping prices on their contribution to a new home.
By comparison, the cost of building a new residence in Calgary is rising. Single detached units were up more than one per cent in the month and townhouses saw an even bigger increase. Demand in the Alberta city is rising as it has become a prime location for people leaving cities such as Vancouver or Toronto in search of cheaper residential real estate.
