As the populations of Saskatoon and Regina grow, experts say the housing market is struggling to keep up and rents are soaring.Aisha Jamal, from left, Yusra Nabi, Shafqat Nabi and Yumna Nabi moved on May 23 from Qatar to Saskatoon, where they have found rents even higher than they expected. Shafqat Nabi and Aisha Jamal say that in their short time in the city, they have found Saskatoon to be a very welcoming place — but not its rental market.
Nabi and Jamal said that after a lot of research, they found a rental unit that meets their needs on the west side of the city for $1,850. "Rent control actually will hurt tenants and the industry in the long term by scaring away investment and what we want to do now is welcome as much housing investment as possible," he said.Cameron Choquette, CEO of the Saskatchewan Landlord Association, says rent control hurts the industry in the long term by scaring away investment.
"Combined, the grant program and rebate can provide qualifying homeowners with up to $46,340 in cost savings."on the rental market, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation found that in Regina, vacancy rates reached their lowest level since 2013. In Saskatoon, the tightening rental market saw vacancy rates drop as rents rose.
Taylor Pardy, CMHC's lead economist for prairies and territories, said the rental market and the number of homes available for sale in both cities is comparable to 2006 low levels.