Saskatoon home prices see significant rise in January 2007
January is not normally one of the biggest months for real estate. We’ve just been through the holiday season, blown a wad of cash and on top of all that, it’s damned cold. Normally, only the most motivated buyers manage to get out and look at homes. This January, they were out and the numbers indicate that most of them were motivated!
Sales statistics just pulled from the Saskatoon Real Estate Board’s MLS® system show a 60% increase in dollar volume for resale homes traded in January, 2007 as compared to the same month last year. There were 219 homes which traded hands, up from 173 the year before. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home jumped 27% from $149,922 in January of 2006 to $190,037 this past month.
Total active residential listings stand at just 272 homes. That’s 46% fewer properties available now as compared to last year at this time. Look for more increases to come as buyers continue to fight for a place to live.
I’ll share a couple of real examples which I think give a pretty good indication of what occurred through the month of January.
Shorebird Watch is a condo complex which is being marketed in Lakeview. They offer 2 bedroom units of approximately 870 square feet. These units hot the market in May and were priced around $80,000 at that time. A series of small increase occurred through out the coming months and they reached $90,000 by the end of the year. January brought two $5,000 increases to boost asking prices for these homes to just over $100,000.
Consider next, Pine Creek, a Jastek project in the Lakewood area offering town homes of approximately 1,150 square feet. They’re very nice two-storey homes with open basements and the units which are selling today are scheduled to be completed in November. On January 13 these units were priced at $153,400 for a base model with no extras. On January 14 the prices rose to $158,400. Today, the same unit is selling for $169,400, an increase of over 10% during the month of January.
Of course, not all housing units will be affected to the same degree. Properties priced below the average selling price often go up quicker as entry level buyers scramble to try to firm up a deal before they get priced out of the market.
Make no mistake, it’s a hot market! My advice to buyers? Be prepared to pay a little too much today at the risk of paying far too much tomorrow. You must be prepared to write an attractive offer if you have much hope of seeing it fly.
My advice to sellers? Make darned sure that if you sign an MLS® listing that the home actually makes it to the MLS® system. Additional reading below.
Premium Saskatoon Houses Sell While Market is Still at Work
Deceptive Agent Practice Could Cost Sellers Money
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.
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
7 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:04 PM
My husband and I have put offers on 3 different houses and 2 were in bidding wars. The last house we offered $7,000 over asking price and the house went for $26,000 over asking. This house had a basement suite and the buyer came in and paid cash and is most likely using it as full revenue property. This is the 2nd house we lost due to another buyer using it as revenue property. Can you please give us some advice on how a young married couple with a baby on the way is suppose to compete in a market like this? It tends to be very frustrating and discouraging when the houses in our price range are being scooped up by investors, as there isn’t too many decent houses on the east side for around the $200,000 mark. We are fully aware and prepared to place an offer over asking, but how can you compete with someone paying cash?
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Cass. Thanks. I finished answering your question and realized that today’s post had been born. Check it out here.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:05 PM
I don’t think January is one of the biggest months for real estate in any country. I operate an estate agency business in Bangkok and January is always quiet. Even more so now that the Thai Baht has appreciated so much.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Hi Neil,
Glad to hear that your market is strong and healthy. We are also busier than one might expect for January.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Hi Norm,
Good news. Looks like neither of us is being affected by the US Sub-prime crisis. I have found this year continued to be active although this month (April) has about 5 days of public holidays so it’s probably technically one of the worst months of the year for me, although I think that December is probably the worst month because of Christmas, would you agree??
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:07 PM
April is almost always a strong month here. December is our slowest.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:07 PM
So it makes sense then to take your annual break in December. That’s what I try to do.