Saskatoon homes sales edge up slightly in month of November: SRAR
The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) released the residential real estate statistics for November of 2010 today, accompanied by this release.
Last month, Saskatoon REALTORS® assisted 283 home buyers with the purchase of their dream home. This number was up 12% from November 2009 when 253 homes were sold. The year to date sales number stands at 3,396 down 7 % from the same time last year when 3,609 units had sold. The $300,000 to 350,000.00 price range continues to be the most active. The average number of days to sell in the month of November was 42.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
The average residential selling price in November was $312,893. This number is up 13% from November 2009 when the average selling price was $277,766. The average price year to date is $296,136. That’s up 7% from 2009 at this same time when the average was $278,002.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
Home buyers had 1,045 homes to select from at the end of November, up from November 2009 when 877 homes were on the market. REALTORS® listed 403 homes in November, up 13% from November 2009 when 356 properties were listed for sale.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
In areas surrounding Saskatoon sales activity was steady with 75 homes selling, on par with November 2009. Year to date, REALTORS® have sold 857 homes in these areas, down 5 % from 2009 when the year to date figure stood at 903. REALTORS® listed 154 properties in these areas in the month of November. That number is up 20% from November 2009 when 128 properties were placed on the market for sale. The average number of days to sell in areas around Saskatoon during the month of November was 78.
Fourth quarter unit sale activity is performing as forecast. The new home market remains strong with steady city lot sales taking place. Interest rates have edged up slightly but seem to have had little impact on home sales. Job creation in the Saskatoon area remains steady. The forecast for the remainder of 2010 is for listing and sales numbers to continue to balance and for prices level as well.
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
8 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
December 2nd, 2010 at 4:05 PM
Average price number might be up but I would say house values are down. We are looking to buy but I am in no rush. Wife would have bought yesterday. She is excited, I’m fearful. As I have talked to some realtors at open houses to get a feel of the market, I am finding out prices are slowly slipping. at one open house that was lowered by 20k, the realtor had mentioned that the last two sales where his clients bought, they brought offers 12k and 16k lower than list. Wife figured we could get the house for 35k less than original list and was excited. I was fearful for the possibility that the house value would fall further later.
December 2nd, 2010 at 6:58 PM
I guess just for the record it is worth noting that it is the highest average sale price ($312, 893) in saskatoon recorded for a month over the past five years – without adjustments for inflation of course. In terms of sales numbers, it is the 2nd highest number of sales for a month of november in the past five years. Looks like a mini bubble to me
!
December 2nd, 2010 at 8:24 PM
I’m not going to disagree that its a mini bubble but with rates so low,the mortgage can be paid down hopefully faster than any deflation in values.
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:22 PM
Bubble busted:
Thanks for sharing the anecdotes- without anecdotal evidence about housing prices, we’d be forced to rely on Norm’s statistics and their pesky large sample sizes
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:08 AM
@lawtalkingguy,
With regard to your sarcasm, I’m assuming that you doubt that “bubble busted” could find the discounts he states on certain properties while the average price goes up? I don’t doubt it. The two could happen at the same time, depending on the mix of sales.
@bubble busted,
“I was fearful for the possibility that the house value would fall further later.”
If you’re staying put for a good long time, have a good down payment and a reasonable amortization, this might matter less than you think. If you can get a good deal on the purchase price, so much the better. I have no idea how fast a rise in rates may come (not quickly, I’m currenly thinking), but for example: come refinance time, will you be in comfortable place if interest rates were to, say, double? I’m not trying to convice you one way or the other, but If you can answer “yes” to these questions, then I would think you’d have little to worry about.
December 3rd, 2010 at 5:51 PM
bubble busted,
Don’t listen to Jen. Losing money usually matters. Instead read this article by Macleans and tell me how this will end well.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/12/01/what-the-boomers-are-leaving/
Nix
December 3rd, 2010 at 8:18 PM
Interesting observation. That had slipped by me, though I’m quite certain that actual prices are not anywhere near their peak. I saw a house expire the other day after 60 days at a price ten percent lower than the seller paid in 2007. This is not at all uncommon right now. A shift in the price ranges that are selling continue to inflate the averages. Tomorrow, I’ll post some numbers on that. Still, unit sales are certainly stronger than I would have expected. It’s a pleasant surprise to have a sales gain over last year.
December 6th, 2010 at 6:57 AM
Sorry to be so long getting back with this. Here is a breakdown of sales by price range from November 2010 as compared to the same month last year.
The sales numbers are certainly impressive, even in the ranges up to $300,000. Still, you can quickly see how some skewing is occurring making the year-over-year averages a bit out of whack. While the total increase in unit sales for the month is 30, the $301,000 and higher range sees a gain of 44 units.
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