Prince Albert homebuyers are facing fewer choices and rising pressure this spring as low inventory continues to tighten the local resale market, according to the latest Saskatchewan Realtors Association market update and a local realtor.
The provincial association said Saskatchewan’s residential market remains under supply pressure, with persistently low inventory pushing benchmark prices to record highs. In Prince Albert, that trend is showing up in fewer new listings, limited supply, and stronger competition when desirable homes hit the market.
“The main takeaway from this last month’s residential market statistics is that we are seeing a continued pressure on supply in jurisdictions across Saskatchewan, which is putting real pressure on Saskatchewan’s affordability advantage when it comes to buying a home,” said Tyler Hudy, Vice-President of public affairs and communications for the Saskatchewan Realtors Association.
Hudy said low inventory remains the main force behind rising benchmark prices. He said Prince Albert is part of that broader provincial pattern.
“If we were to look at Prince Albert, for example, new listings are down 28 percent year over year, and they’re 31 percent below the 10-year average,” Hudy said. “Prince Albert, sitting just below three months of supply, at 2.8 months of supply.”
He said the benchmark price in Prince Albert was up 3.9 percent year over year, while sales activity remained steady, a sign that demand has not disappeared even as affordability becomes more difficult.
Local realtor Conrad Kruger of EXP Realty said the shortage is visible on the ground.
“Yes, they are,” Kruger said when asked whether buyers in Prince Albert are seeing fewer choices than normal.
He said the pressure is especially sharp in the price range where many first-time and moderate-income buyers are shopping.
“The most sales you did say is, let me just check. Is it like the 200,000 to $300,000 range? That’s where you see the most,” Kruger said while referring to the stats infront of him.
When well-priced homes in that range appear, he said buyer activity can move quickly.
“When a good listing comes up, there seems to be a lot of buyers running there” Kruger said.
He said Prince Albert has not historically seen as many delayed offer presentation tactics as larger centres such as Saskatoon, but that is beginning to change as the market tightens.
For first-time buyers, both Hudy and Kruger said affordability is becoming a bigger challenge. Hudy said buyers who saved based on older price levels may now find those savings do not stretch as far.
“You may have been saving for the last two or three years based off of a benchmark price that you know you assumed was the case in 2015 or even 2025, or even 2024, and what you’ve seen is that price increase anywhere from four to five to six, and in some cases, and in some places in Saskatchewan, 11 and 12 per cent so what you saved a year ago might not actually be the reality today,” Hudy said.
Kruger said entry-levels buyers are competing in the same lower-priced segment that attracts the most attention.
“You know they can afford, like, $100,000 to $300,000 but that’s what everybody wants,” Kruger said. “The basics of economics is low inventory, high demand, and that puts upward pressure on the market.”
Kruger added that buyers looking for bargains in sold homes may be disappointed.
“The average sale price to the listing price is almost like 98 per cent,” he said. “There’s no real bargains, if you want to put it that way, in decent homes.”
The latest housing market pressure comes as Prince Albert has already been grappling with broader housing concerns. The city has been working on a housing strategy and council has also considered land sales meant to support future residential development. But both Hudy and Kruger suggested those longer-term measures will not bring immediate relief to buyers already navigating the resale market.
“I think it’s still further down the road,” Kruger said of long-term housing plans.
Hudy said more supply remains the clearest path toward a more balanced market, whether through more listings coming online or faster home construction.
“We’re optimistic that as we kind of enter April and into May, that new listings will increase,” Hudy said. “But there’s really nothing to indicate that this upward trend in benchmark price is going to stall out.”
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
