Slump in home sales less than feared, as open houses resume in Saskatchewan
Open houses can be added to the list of things returning to a new normal as businesses shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic begin resuming operations in Saskatchewan.
“I think it was important that early on we took the right steps,” said Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA) CEO Jason Yochim of the decision to halt open houses back in March.
Yochim credited that early intervention, along with further commitments to social distancing, with helping make both clients and agents more comfortable, thus helping to cushion what was expected to be a dire downturn in the housing market.
“When we first got into this situation in early March, we were quite concerned,” Yochim said.
The association initially projected a 75 per cent drop in sales. With that in mind, Yochim said a 50 per cent drop in Saskatchewan home sales seen in April actually came as a relief. So far, he said May numbers are sitting at about 80 per cent of their year-over-year total.
With the provincial government’s Re-open Saskatchewan Plan continuing to progress and more businesses and activities allowed to resume, Yochim said it was time to bring back open houses starting Monday, but with social distancing and cleaning protocols.
To that end, the SRA is requiring health disclosure surveys and contact information records to aid in contact tracing in the event someone tests positive for COVIDS-19 after attending an open house. The events themselves will be limited to two clients, plus the attending agent, allowed in a house at a time.
All customers will be expected to
sanitize their hands upon entering a home, and will not be allowed to touch anything. They’ll also be required to wear shoes or disposable booties on their feet. Other customers will be asked to either wait in a socially-distanced queue for their turn to tour the property, or wait in their vehicles.
While the restrictions will obviously be new to everyone involved, Yochim said bringing back open houses can only help sales, even with modern technology allowing people to learn a lot about a home before they ever see it in person.
“I think when it comes down to making that final decision, the consumer does want to go through that property and just see it, physically,” he said.
When it comes down to making that final decision, the consumer does want to go through that property and just see it, physically