Mazel tov, Saskatchewan brokers!

It’s much warmer than cold comfort, say Saskatchewan brokers, grappling with a slowing market but finally seeing home prices grow closer to the national average -- along with their commission cheques.

It’s much warmer than cold comfort, say Saskatchewan brokers, grappling with a slowing market but  finally seeing home prices grow closer to the national average -- along with their commission cheques.

The value growth means his agents aren’t having to work double time to better their incomes of even four years ago, says Regina-based Daryn Young, broker/owner of Mortgage Intelligence TMF: The Mortgage Firm. “We’ve seen steady year-over-year increases in sales prices and that has helped to narrow the divide between our compensation and other parts of Canada.”

Last month, in Regina, alone, the average sales price for the month established a new record of $317,581; ie, an increase of 17 per cent over the $272,469 posted in 2011.

In fact, for the first time, the average sales price for all areas of the capital broke the $300K mark. It’s a similar story for Saskatoon, and across much of the rest of the province still in the throes of a mini economic boom.

That’s expected to continue, with GDP forecast to rise by 2.1 per cent year-over-year in 2013, keeping the jobless rate below five per cent, even as mining and agriculture sectors spur more in-migration. Home demand from those workers, most looking for high-ratio A deals, is also beefing up broker paycheques.

Still, against that growth, brokers in the province are still expecting a slowing of home sales, a drop of as much as 5 per cent compared to 2012.

That phenomenon makes the rise in the average mortgage amount all the more important for brokers looking to deepen the economic rewards of a profession that continues to more lucrative not just for top players in Toronto and Vancouver, but in many other Canadian markets.