Investors from across the country and around the world who've been buying houses and apartments are also snapping up farmland in the province.
That's good news for people like Martin Bettker, who recently auctioned off items on his farm — everything from chainsaws to tractors — northeast of Saskatoon.
The land is already gone, with half being sold to local buyers and the rest to investors from Alberta.
Still, Bettker said, it's not easy parting with the land his grandfather settled almost a century ago.
"It's hard to let it go, but I've got a one-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy and you've got to feed them," he said.
While there's nothing new about farmers struggling to make a living, what is new is the price they can get for selling their land.
"It just started here last December and then into the spring here it just went crazy," Bettker said.
According to Saskatoon real estate agent Don Fry, the price of farmland has more than doubled in the last year. He gave an example of about 324 hectares of farmland recently selling for $2 million.
"That's substantially different than it was two years ago — $600,000," he said.
Part of the explanation for the recent boom could be a change in the rules. Until a few years ago, only Saskatchewan residents could buy farmland — an attempt by the provincial government to preserve the family farm.
Critics said what it really did was keep prices artificially low. Now, investors from across Canada can buy Saskatchewan farmland.
The rising interest in farm property is happening at the same time the market for other kinds of real estate in Saskatchewan is turning red hot.
On the outskirts of Saskatoon, backhoes and bulldozers are working overtime making room for more houses.
What used to be a stable real estate market is off the charts, according to Harry Janzen, a spokesman for the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors.
Bidding wars for property are the new norm, with the winner paying well above the asking price.
Worldwide investors
About half of those buyers are people who plan to live in their new homes, Janzen said.
"We're also looking at a significant sector of investors, not only coming from Alberta but also British Columbia and other areas literally worldwide.
Potential buyers from Australia; London, England; and New York have been coming by, he said.
Many of these investors made money in Alberta real estate, but think that market is almost tapped out.
Brett Wilson made a career investing in Calgary's energy sector, but now he's buying thousands of acres of land in Saskatchewan.
Wilson rents his land to farmers, either for cash or a share of the crops they grow.
It's a long-term investment — one he plans to hand down to his children, he said.
CBC News