A closer look at the Saskatoon real estate statistics for July 2007
The average selling price of a Saskatoon home fell marginally in July to $245,893 from $251,120 in June. The total number of single family homes and condominiums traded dropped to 411 units as compared to 452 in June, but still remained higher than the 308 units reported as sold last July.
Prices of Saskatoon houses took the greater hit falling from $262,145 in June to $253,446 in July and further narrowing the already small gap between the price of a Saskatoon house and a condo.
The average selling price of a Saskatoon condo decreased slightly from $221,958 in June to $221,495 in July.
It certainly feels good to begin to see prices stabilize some after many months of consecutive growth. It remains to be seen if this is temporary or if we can expect this trend to continue.
See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here
Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports
I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
19 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:08 AM
This is insane!!! Why are people paying so high for a condo? When you have to pay condo fees and if the condo is older (ex 80s) and they go up each year, what is the point? When we sold our conod we only paid $60,000 more for our house, and now we have a yard and more sq footage. Norm or someone else can you shed light on this? Because I’m not seeing it. Is it because this is all they can afford in this market right now?
April 8th, 2009 at 9:09 AM
Sunny,
As you can see from the July sales stats, the appeal of condos certainly is not price, however for many people this a much more practical option. Certainly, for senior or students but also for anyone who does not desire to own a larger property which requires additional upkeep and potential costs in maintenance and repairs. Condos also offer a sense of added security and community within the building which may appeal to many people. Don’t assume that because buying home was a better option for you, it should be suitable and practical for everyone.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:09 AM
Condos also offer intoxicated students stumbling home and shouting to their friends across the parking lot at 2 a.m. after a long night of drinking. I’m with Sunny on this one. Condos used to be an affordable alternative to getting a house, but now it doesn’t seem practical. I can understand why seniors would still consider buying a condo in this market, but as far as students are concerned, well, students bought them because they were cheap.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:10 AM
The high volume/price of condo sales sure reinforces the notion that the majority of sask migration from alberta are seniors. Sell the house, buy a condo with cash and pay the condo fees for maintenance. That fits anyone’s budget if you don’t have a mortgage.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Unfortunately you still have to worry about upkeep of your place and if the tennant above you has water problems and they don’t have insurance. (Unfortunately not all condo associations cover these things any more, too much for their budgets) We had that happen. And the condo fees… in 2 years ours jumped $40/month. It’s one of the reasons we got out. And our condo was not a new building, but from the 80s and not that great looking.
I will agree about the security. I think a woman would feel more secure in there than a house.
But I remember when we were buying our condo how much of a difference there was from a condo to a house. That’s why we bought the condo, because we couldn’t afford a house. But now it’s getting so close that there is not that much of a difference if you get a smaller house. I just find it weird.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Jeff unforunately that’s not true though. A lot of those condos are sold as revenue properties. We had 2 guys approach us to buy ours to ‘flip’ and when talking to our building manager there were a lot of them going that way. AB investors buying them sight unseen.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Beth, you sure sound like you’re here to promote a lot of indecisive observations.
Perhaps you’ve got something to gain out of the wholesale swindling of Saskatoon? I think it’s kind of disgusting that people do that to this fine province. It’s very mean spirited and greedy, don’t you think?
Regarding the statistics, is the drop of the average due to reduced prices or reduced sales? The problem here is that either can be symptoms of a reduced figure. If the prices aren’t dropping at the same time, it’s all a lot of fanfare over nothing.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Alex,
You’re very right when you suggest that it’s difficult to draw the conclusion that home prices are falling based on a decline in the “average” for one particular month. Note the wild swings from one week to the next in the various “areas” of Saskatoon. When you’re dealing with smaller numbers of sales the averages can be skewed significantly by larger or smaller numbers of unit sales in a particular price category. The averages are much more useful over the long term. If we continue to see prices move in this direction over several consecutive months we can safely assume that prices are going down.
For the time being, I will be satisfied to see prices stabilize so that people can comfortably get back to making informed. This kind of a “speculative” market, which we’ve been in for months isn’t much fun for anyone.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Beth,
You make some good points regarding the attractiveness of condos for certain buyers. These people don’t really compare condo prices to house prices as a house may not be a viable alternative for them. However, the grossly dramatic increases that we’ve seen in condos continues to boggle my mind and it seems to be out of step with the rest of the market which has increased more than enough.
Any “investor” which is buying these units right now should have his or her head examined. I think the price run up on these units is over, or almost over. I’m under the impression that similar units can be found in Calgary at comparable prices. Given the potential difference in incomes in these markets the current prices seem unsustainable.
Thanks for participating. You’ve brought some excellent insights in this, and other threads.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Don’t worry! The condo market isn’t all that’s out there for us unworthy and patehtic first time buyers!
Check this listing
I figured out why this house is a ripoff! It’s because he doesn’t include the boards that fit on the windows!
April 8th, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Alex,
Lol!! You are a real hoot sometimes!
Let me see. It’s located on 22nd Street, it’s under 600 square feet, on a small lot which is adjacent to an apartment building, and it’s being marketed (for the past two months) as needing TLC. You think 100K is too much? Sounds like an excellent investment to me.
I noticed that the ad only has a very short text description. Perhaps that’s part of the problem. Why don’t you write a proper ad for this one Alex? Might be fun.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:17 AM
*Ahem*
-=-
“Get your piece of the hot, rich action today and be like Donald Trump with lots of money and a nice car!”
*modestly priced!*
Wonderful investment or first time buyer property located in the booming and attractive city of Saskatoon. Resale value after a little work is said to be in the trillions.
Living room can be renovated to become a condominium for renting out should the owner wish the use it as their primary dwelling.
Owner will leave behind rifle and two boxes of tranquilizer darts to tame fauna from nearby kudzu.
Nearby conveniences include:
o McDonald’s
o Fine dining at the Blue Diamond
o A hopeful attitude
o Nearby schooling
o Bus access
o Wonderful view of the Saskatchewan river with a clever configuration of mirrors, poles and lenses.
Owner not considering offers that require inspections. House does not include appliances or sink (remains of bathtub are included however). Purchase agreement must include agreement clause to accommodate the small colony of cats left behind by previous owner. No exceptions. Will only consider offers $100,000 over list price. Buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy buy hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry panic hurry hurry hurry!
-=-
That’s the best I could do. The place speaks for itself otherwise.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Thanks for the morning laugh, Alex.
Funny stuff.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:20 AM
Any time.
Also:
“You too can suffer high insurance premiums and endless property damage to make your contribution towards the gentrification of Saskatoon’s ghettos!”
If it’s so great, why don’t I see anyone with money going there.
Practice what you preach, Lorne and Donald.
(Did anyone catch on the news last night how now that Lorne has made lots of money and bought himself a hybrid car, he now wants his own lane on the highway? Isn’t it nice to see that his focus really is on what’s important: Expanding profits and convenience for the already sopping-rich.)
April 8th, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Alex,
That was an excellent effort, though a few more “buy” and “hurry” warnings may have helped. Unfortunately, you overlooked the convenient access to the “stroll.” Could have had some fun with that one.
Thanks for the laugh!
By the way, I think the extra lane is for western investors so they can transport their real estate gains back home.
Seriously though, some of the pending highway projects will be good for the economy.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:27 AM
I’m always one for highway improvements, but to line the trans Canada AND yellowhead with something that benefits a tiny tiny barely measurable minority of people seems like a waste.
Why don’t we work on getting those hybrid cars in the hands of people? Right now they just seem like another luxury or status symbol that gets waved around.
Sorry for hijacking your real estate blog into a general politics one
April 8th, 2009 at 9:28 AM
Alex,
Though we don’t always agree, I always find you interesting and you’re completely welcome to speak in any direction that your brilliant mind wants to take you. Thank you for being a part of this little community.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:28 AM
This has become a good place for people hurt by the boom to speak out. As you can see, since I first started posting here, more and more people have come to contribute their side of the story.
As I mentioned a while back. For every person who is on here speaking out, you are guaranteed many more who aren’t. Lots of studies have gone into the internet-browsing habits of people, and they are just as varied as anything else. Some talk, some don’t, as the situation gets worse, more feel compelled to raise awareness of their impasse.
The fact that there have been at least five people over the last month who agree that the current state of things is harmful is very alarming to me.
To the uneducated politician, five people on a blog comment system is just five people to them. Unless it’s something they’re personally interested in.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:30 AM
The special highway lane reminds of the set-up they had in the Soviet Union – a special reserved lane so the party hacks could speed into town for their politburo meetings. Now – I hear they still have the special lane in Moscow but now you cam pay something like $30,000 (about the price of a nice Prius) to get a license plate that enables you to use it. I see your mandarins are as good as the Russians!