Star-Phoenix from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada • A4

A 4 Frid Oc tO 25 2019 aS tO On rPhOenix Alex MAcP mortgage insurer expects Saskatoon housing starts, home sales and prices to stabilize and then increase modestly over the next two years, but remain generally below levels seen in the recent past. However, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. warned Thursday, that forecast depends on employment and income growth, as well as net migration, remaining strong through the end of 2021. a recovery that we are forecasting, but we expect that it will be said CMHC senior analyst Goodson Mwale. In its latest housing market outlook for the city, CMHC projected an average resale price of between $319,000 and $325,000 this year, rising to a forecast high of $329,000 over the next two years.

By comparison, the average home price of units listed on the multiple listing system which does not capture private sales was $327,248 in 2018, down from $336,703 in 2017 and $343,497 in 2016, the CMHC said. Sales, meanwhile, are expected to finish between 4,100 and 4,500 this year before rising to a peak of 4,800 by the end of 2021. In 2018, Saskatoon reported 4,314 home sales, down from almost 4,700 two years earlier. Mwale said the projections are based on expectations of continued job growth, particularly in the service sector, as well as net migration both of which tend to rely heavily on the resource-extraction industries. In its outlook, the federal Crown corporation said higher interest rates and tighter mortgage qualification rules are expected to increase demand for more a ord- able homes and condominiums over the forecast period.

Those ordability are also expected to influence new construction over the next two years, with multi-unit growth outpacing that of single-family dwellings, the CMHC said in its forecast. That recovery is also expected to a ect rental units in the city, driving vacancy rates down from around eight per cent last year to six per cent by the end of 2021, Mwale said. In all cases, the CMHC said, a pronounced economic slowdown would push new construction, sales and prices toward the lower end of its forecast ranges over the coming years. The new forecast comes amid what has been described as a persistent buyers market in Saskatoon. Supply has outstripped demand, leading sales and prices to languish.

Earlier this month, Royal LePage said the market to show signs of and is moving toward even as aggregate prices dropped slightly year-over- year. twitter.com/macphersona Home prices, sales to stabilize: CMHC Mortgage insurer says forecast depends on strong income growth, migration a recovery that we are forecasting, but we expect that it will be modest. Goodson Mwale, CMHC senior analyst Ph TAnk The movie-going experience in Saskatoon now includes soft-serve ice cream, reclining seats and a playful theatre designed for families with young children. The seven-screen, foot Cineplex Cinemas complex at the Centre Mall opens Friday. Six of the seven theatre auditoriums feature comfortable, automated reclining seats and more space to move in and out of seats.

community is very, very said Cineplex spokeswoman Sarah Van Lange during a tour for The StarPhoenix on Thursday. She said she has helped open theatres across Canada for more than four years and called the anticipation to this The new complex replaces the seven-screen Centre Cinemas, which closed last weekend. Rainbow Cinemas, the second-run complex at the Centre Mall, will be forced out when its lease expires in the spring due to an exclusivity contract with Cineplex. Jason Willms, Cineplex executive director of operations for Saskatchewan and northern Alberta, said the new theatres will attract some of the same people who go to the downtown Scotiabank Cineplex. He said the chain, which has more than 160 complexes in Canada, is confident the 15-screen downtown location will still thrive.

It has been renovated and upgraded in recent years. math to all of the investment decisions that have been Van Lange said. The previous theatres employed about 20 full- and part-time sta but the new complex will have about 68. The regular price for a movie has also jumped, to $12.99 for an adult ticket. The concession stand features soft ice cream with toppings and fresh-made pizza that cooks in four minutes or less, as well as popcorn and soda.

A games area features pinball, mini-basketball and the original video game Pong, which Van Lange said has been popular during tours. The family theatre, which will show movies, features multicoloured seating and a playground apparatus on the side. still protecting the movie-going Van Lange said. is about providing people The largest theatre has 220 seats, about one-third of the 667 seats in the entire complex. twitter.com/thinktankSK New Cineplex offers theatre catering to young families The seven-screen, Cineplex Cinemas will welcome moviegoers Friday.

The complex at Centre Mall includes a family theatre that will show movies and has playground apparatus. liaM RiCHaRds Centre Mall complex includes play apparatus, automated seats for adults Alex MAcP The Saskatchewan Party caucus is sitting on just over $1.1 million in taxpayer dollars it can choose to spend on political but non-partisan advertising promoting the activities over the coming year. That is expected to include the new growth plan for the next decade, which it teased earlier this month at its pre-election convention and will be released according to caucus chair Eric Olauson. in a good Olauson said of the accumulated surplus, money left over from the grants paid to the government and Opposition caucuses each year based on the number of elected representatives in each party. Last year, the Sask.

Party caucus received $1.3 million and spent $1 million on salaries and benefits, various services, travel, phone and internet bills and advertising, newly released financial records show. The Saskatchewan NDP caucus received $900,303 plus $50,824 in other income, and spent $920,849. At the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year, the records show, the caucus had a total surplus of $73,119. outspend the government but we can outwork said NDP caucus chair Carla Beck. Olauson would not say if the government caucus plans to dip into its accumulated surplus over the next 12 months.

use what we the MLA said. He went on to emphasize that the government caucus is a good steward of taxpayer dollars. Caucus resources are dictated by the board of internal economy, a bipartisan legislative committee chaired by the speaker. The money comes from taxpayers and cannot be used for partisan purposes such as nominations and campaigns. However, as Olauson put it, the funds can be used to buy advertising that supports MLAs and promotes government programs; both the Sask.

Party and the NDP caucuses have been doing more of that recently. Last year, the government caucus spent $224,941 on advertising, slightly less than the $270,927 it paid out for the year ended March 31, 2018 a period that includes the first two months of Scott premiership. The opposition ramped up its advertising spending significantly in 2018-19: The total jumped to $53,593 from $12,637 in the previous year. Beck said that is typical toward the end of a four-year election cycle. Sask.

Party MLAs have available for ads in next year Being clocked above the speed limit in a school zone is like failing an open-book test, says Saskatchewan Government Insurance. If so, more than 1,400 people across Saskatchewan flunked in September. Here is a by-the-numbers look at school zone tickets issued last month, based on statistics released Thursday by SGI: 1,424 Tickets issued to drivers for speeding in school zones. 901 Distracted driving enc- es, including 773 tickets for mobile phone use while driving. 13 Tickets to drivers for failing to yield to a pedestrian.

4 Tickets for passing a school bus or failing to stop five metres from it when safety lights were on. 286 Impaired-driving ences, including 242 charges under the Criminal Code. 515 Tickets related to seatbelts, car seats or booster seats. 6,463 Non-school zone speeding or aggressive-driving tickets. Postmedia News Over 1,400 school zone fines in month DISCLAIMER MOVE UP SALESEVENT 2019CadillacXT4AWD 72m 335 BW 2,000 down 335 OR OR SALE 43,591 OR SAVE 5,668 2019CadillacXT5AWD 84m 331 BW 2,000 down 33 1 OR OR SALE 47,897 OR SAVE 9,557 2019CadillacEscaladeAWD 84m 562 BW 2,000 down 56 2 OR OR SALE 81,743 OR SAVE 18,571.