Saskatoon Housing Bubble?

[manatee]

Prices in Saskatoon are up 30% since last January, and inventory is down by 50%.

I came up with a few theories
1. All the people from Saskatoon that moved to Calgary have made 100-200k on Calgary realestate in the past couple of years and are cashing out and moving back to Saskatoon
2. Saskatoon economy is hot, people are moving there for jobs and are buying houses
3. Immigrants are moving to Saskatoon because it's cheap compared to Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary
4. Prices have gone up and investors/speculators are buying
5. Retirees from other Canadian cities are cashing out on the gains they had in the past 5 years and moving to Saskatoon which is still affordable compared to other cities.
6. There was very little built in the past 5-10 years, and we just ran out of housing supply due to natural population growth, without any above factors.

What do you think?

Cheers.

[swilley]

All true except 5 and 6 IMO

[Greco Roman]

What ethnic groups are moving to Saskatoon in large numbers? I'm curious since I have friends who live in Saskatoon and say that it is still a predominantly white town with the exception of the U of S area.

[BrannyMuffin]

I'd say it's probably a combination of 1, 2, and 4. I don't think it's so much higher numbers of immigrants...certainly not because it's cheaper. Most of these people, when leaving their home countries, have never heard of Saskatoon. The ones that do, usually hear from family and friends who have moved there. Then you have your university students, but I really wouldn't put them into an "immigrant" category.

[subdude]

4. Prices have gone up and investors/speculators are buying


Put me in that number - I bought a rental condo there in 2005 and I've watched the prices climb steadily ever since.

I've heard stories of larger investors moving into the ultra-cheap West side and scooping up apt. blocks. Not sure if there are a lot of small investors like me moving in there... I'm from there so it was a pretty natural step for me. Investors I talk to out here just don't know the market but Saskatoon is definitely on their radar.