JOSH BUCHANAN

December 1st, 2016

If you’re currently looking for a new place to rent or you’re serious about buying a new home in this market, it’s very important that you understand the current market conditions and act accordingly. We are in a buyer’s/renter’s market. This means that renters and buyers have bargaining power instead of the landlords and sellers which is what we’ve gotten used to in Saskatoon for the past decade.

Part of the reason why rental rates and housing prices are slow to fall in this type of market is because tenants and buyers are often both uninformed and afraid to bargain. We live in a society with mostly fixed prices and there aren’t a lot of situations in which it is appropriate to negotiate prices. Home sales and rentals, however, are one area of our culture where it is acceptable.

Currently, rental rates and housing prices are slowly falling in Saskatoon but mostly as a result of sellers and landlords getting desperate and dropping their prices in order to close a deal. If buyers and renters had a better understanding of market conditions and economics, as well as the confidence to negotiate, it could help bring prices and rental rates back down to the appropriate level given the imbalance of supply and demand. Sales numbers are the lowest we’ve seen in over 5 years while inventory levels are still way above the 5-year average and rental vacancies are the highest on record.

My advice for buyers and renters: do some research, inform yourself and start playing hardball with sellers and landlords. You are in the driver’s seat now, you just need to recognize it and take advantage of it. Request incentives, negotiate lower prices and contracts that are favourable for you. So what if you make a low-ball offer and they don’t take it? Let them make a counter offer or walk away from the deal. You’ll never know until you try and now is the time to put the pressure on landlords and sellers. If they laugh at your low offers, walk away and let them try and find a different buyer or renter. There’s way more people trying to sell and rent out than there are people looking to buy or rent a place.

The views represented are solely those of Josh Buchanan and are independent from any professional organization.