January housing sales in Sask. down 22 per cent

It's not just the weather that's been cooling off in Saskatchewan. The housing market is also starting to experience some chills.

According to the latest numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association, January house sales are down about 22 per cent in Saskatchewan, compared to last January.

It ranges depending on the area. In Saskatoon thenumber of units sold in January is down 24 per cent, compared to last year, while in southeast Saskatchewan, in the oil patch, they are down 54 per cent.

While sales are down, prices are not necessarily following suit. In fact, in Saskatoon, prices went up about four per cent this January over last. In Swift Current it's a different story. Prices went down by about 22 per cent.

I don't think it's a situation where prices will crash, but in terms of expecting a price correction I think that's definitely in the cards this year.- MazenIssa,TD Securities Senior Canada Macro Strategist

Gord Archibald is with the Regina Realtors Association. He says his numbers for Regina show just a marginally slower month than usual. Archibald said prices have been slowly and steadily declining since 2013, and it's not necessarily due to low oil prices.

"I think it would be premature to make a call at this point as far as what's happening with oil prices to say it's going to have a significant impact on the real estate market," Archibald told CBC Radio's Blue Sky.

He said the areas that will feel the pinch more are places in the oilpatch, like Estevan and Weyburn.

'Sense of panic,' says expert

TD Securities Senior Canada Macro Strategist Mazen Issa wrote a commentary about housing in Saskatchewan and Alberta. He wrote "there is a clear sense of panic" and there's "a rush of homeowners looking to obtain top dollar before their respective regional housing market nosedives on the price."

"Some of the swings that we saw on the sales activity are certainly concerning in the sense that they are occurring in such a swift manner," he told Blue Sky.

Issa said prices are holding steady.But he addedthey are likely to go down.

"I don't think it's a situation where prices will crash, but in terms of expecting a price correction I think that's definitely in the cards this year."