Material on assessment can make for pretty dull reading, but a recent publication from the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency is worth a look for those who are interested in trends in rural Saskatchewan.
The document in question has the not very exciting title of Saskatchewan Property Value Trends, April 1998.
Contrary to what one would expect given the depopulation of rural Saskatchewan and the loss of services which many communities have suffered in recent years, property values in small communities (under 4,000 people) have actually risen slightly since 1994.
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For communities up to 250 population, the June 20, 1997, average residence sale price was $9,350, 10 to 13 percent higher than the price in June 1994.
In communities with 251 to 1,000 residents, sale prices since June 1994 have risen “at a fairly moderate rate” with prices at June of last year 14.2 percent higher than at June 30 three years earlier. The average residential property value in June 1997 was $22,890.
The average value of property in communities of 1,001 to 4,000 was $40,570 at the end of last June, up 10.8 percent from the 1994 figure.
According to the report, preliminary year-end estimates indicate a levelling of residential property rates; the preliminary estimate shows values 2.4 percent lower than at June 30 last year, and unchanged from December 1996.
No reasons are given for this change.
Agricultural land has also shown an increase in value with land on the west side of the province showing “moderately to strong increasing values of five to 15 percent per year” while on the east side, the trend has been “slightly to moderately increasing values of three to eight percent per year.”
The June 30, 1997, average arable land value was $45,280 per quarter ($283 per acre). Pasture land was bringing an average of $18,600 per quarter or $116 per acre. As with residential property, the end-of-year trend was for lower prices and, again, no reasons were given.
One will likely have to look no farther than falling commodity prices.
In 1996 and early 1997, there was a lot of optimism in the country and prices weren’t too bad. Farmers were in a buying mood.
When commodity prices are falling, farmers are naturally reluctant to buy more crop or pasture land, or look for a house in town.
