Association of Regina Realtors CEO to retire after 26 years

A long-time member of Regina’s real estate scene is hanging up his keys and calling it a career after 26 years.

Gord Archibald, CEO of the Association of Regina Realtors, is set to retire on Dec. 31; he first started there in 1993.

He said he’s seen several changes in the industry in his time there, from in-home technologies to annual numbers of home sales to listing technologies to home prices.

The start of the 2007 housing boom was a watershed moment for the province and the city, Archibald said.

Up until then, Regina had a “steady market for about 30 years with a bandwidth of (home) sales taking place, between 2,400 and 2,700 (annually).

“Then ’07 came along it was almost 4,000 (homes). It wasn’t a steady incline at all; it was pretty quick the way it happened. It caught a lot of people by surprise. With the demand that was occurring at the time, we just didn’t have the supply to catch up with it,” Archibald said.

“There were many, many instances of homes selling within hours and selling well above list price and multiple offers taking place on properties.”

The boom prompted a record home sale, too.

“We saw the first $1 million-plus home sale taking place. That was a bit of an oddity for Regina, at least. Of course there’s more of that now, because there’s more larger homes being built in recent years,” Archibald said.

The after-shocks from that boom resonated for years later, too.

“That’s when we really saw prices starting to escalate at a much greater rate then what they had been historically. And that continued for a period of time to about 2013. Then we started to see the market started to fall off,” he said.

Comparing 2019 to when Archibald first started, he also noted the increase in average home prices over that time.

“(It) was in the $60,000-range when I first started. And now it has been north of $300,000,” he said.

Archibald’s colleagues commended his work in the industry.

“Saskatchewan real estate is better for having had Gord in the industry spanning the past three decades,” said Jason Yochim, CEO of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association, in an emailed statement.

He’ll take over the newly amalgamated association, which also includes Saskatoon’s association on Jan. 1, 2020.

“I have had the opportunity to work with Gord for many years, and he’s played a major role in getting our industry to where it is today, through collaboration, innovation and level-headed business sense,” said Yochim.

“His dedication to the industry is evident by the previous failed attempts he’s made to retire, but he kept coming back to ensure the amalgamation into a single provincial association was a success. He’s always looked out for what’s in the best interest of the members, the industry and the community.”