Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says fortunately Saskatoon is very competitive when it comes to affordability in housing.

The Saskatchewan Housing Continuum Network says this province needs to build approximately 141,500 housing units in the next eight years if it is going to meet projected population increases.

The group contends that the lack of available homes for sale has become the market’s main issue in Saskatchewan while at the same time the type of property in demand differs between communities. For instance in Regina, housing inventory is still balanced while Saskatoon has a shortage of single-family homes.

Mayor Charlie Clark says Saskatoon is still a challenging market to get into.

“Especially if you’re lower income or middle income families, and so we obviously having Saskatoon land have the ability to make sure we’re trying to service as much land as we can making sure that new housing is being built to meet the demand reducing the squeeze that can lead to those prices going up.”

The Housing Continuum Network is urging provincial and local governments to act on issues that limit supply and artificially increase prices.

The five founding partners stand for all segments of the housing continuum: Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan (HHS), the Regina & Region Home Builders’ Association (RRHBA), the Saskatoon & Region Home Builders’ Association (SRHBA), Saskatchewan Landlord Association (SKLA) and the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA).