Early returns

It may only be the beginning, but the Financial Post reports on a wave of Saskatchewan citizens who are returning from Alberta due to a similarly thriving jobs market and a substantially lower cost of living:

A campaign by Saskatchewan to lure former residents back from Alberta appears to be hitting home. In Calgary, where the housing market has surged at an astonishing rate, stories are growing increasingly common about families cashing out to return to their roots in Saskatchewan, where the jobs market has taken an upward turn and they can live mortgage-free.

"We see it as a huge trend, in any one day we'll have two or three people from Alberta in our office," said Larry Stewart, a broker with RE/MAX Saskatoon. "They're people who are coming back, quitting their jobs and finding new jobs here."...

The average sale price of a single-family home in Calgary hit $403,630 last month, which is up 32% from a year ago.

In Regina, the average residential price is $137,195.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., which tracks movement between provinces, acknowledged the rush from Saskatchewan to Alberta could be slowing.

"Theoretically, we're now considering that Alberta is on the verge of becoming the second most expensive real estate market in the country," said Richard Corriveau, a Calgary-based market analyst with the federal government's mortgage insurer.

"A family that sells their home and moves from Saskatchewan to say, Calgary, maybe has enough for a down payment -- if they'd built up some equity.

"Move from Alberta to Saskatchewan, however, and you pay cash, live mortgage-free and maybe put a couple hundred grand into your pocket. That's a pretty strong pull."

The evidence may be largely anecdotal for now, but then there's plenty of room for the phenomenon to grow - particularly if employers start to follow suit based on the lower costs of operating in Saskatchewan.