Saskatoon real estate market stabilizes in August 2009: SRAR
The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) released the residential real estate statistics for August 2009 today, accompanied by this release.
Saskatoon REALTORS® assisted 393 home buyers to fulfill their dream of home ownership in the month of August, up 76% from August 2008 when 223 homes were sold, and on par with August 2007 when 397 homes were sold. Year to date, 2697 homes have sold, also on par with 2008.
The average selling price stabilized at $281,871 in the month of August and was on par with 2008 when the average selling price was $279,722. Year to date the average selling price is $278,129, down 4% from 2008 when the average year to date sales figure was $288,924.
Inventory levels continued to stabilize in the month of August. Home buyers had 1148 homes to select from at the end of August, down 32% from August 2008 when 1676 homes were on the market. That number is also down from the 1291 homes available last month and down significantly from our record high inventory number of 1748 homes for sale in September 2008. REALTORS® listed 517 homes in August, down 36% from 2008 when 805 homes were listed.
Home sales in areas surrounding the city were also very active in the month of August with 96 properties sold, up 22% from 2008 when 79 homes were sold and on par with 2007 when consumers purchased 93 homes. The average price remained steady in these areas at $270,488, up 9% from 2008 when the average selling price was $248,556.
All indicators point to similar activity in the residential home sales market as we continue into fall. Consumer confidence remains strong; the job market is steady and interest rates are low, all necessary components for an active market. Inventory is expected to decline during the next few months furthering market stability.
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Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
17 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Interesting to see a “prices up on year-over-year basis.” First one since we crossed under in March of this year.
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Listings under 1100.
Prices up yoy.
Sales at almost all time highs for August.
Heading into the fall looks like things will hold steady unless we get an infestation of rats
September 2nd, 2009 at 8:21 PM
I’m not getting excited over all time year over year highs for August09. There is a significant difference between Aug08 and Aug09. Aug08 was at the base and Aug09 is at the peak of a downtrend channel. I anticipate prices to continue the downtrend.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Housing market to rebound, CMHC says
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Housing+market+rebound+CMHC+says/1958339/story.html
“In the second half of 2009 and in 2010, we expect housing markets across Canada to strengthen.”
Meanwhile, CMHC said existing home sales have “rebounded strongly since January” and will total 420,700 units in 2009 and 419,400 units next year.
The average sales price is expected to be down for the entire year, to $301,400, before rising to $306,300 in 2010.
Looks like the monkey is back spinning that wheel.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 AM
George, “Looks like the monkey is back spinning that wheel.”
Canada to see weak recovery, says OECD
http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=1958416
“Canada will have among the weakest economic recoveries of major industrial nations, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Paris-based group of 30 nations said Canada’s economy will contract 2% in the third quarter of 2009 before edging up 0.4% in the final three months of the year.
That’s in contrast to forecasts by the Bank of Canada, which expects the country’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic performance, to grow 1.3% in the third quarter of this year, followed by a three per cent gain in the final three months of 2009.”
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Do you guys actually have an opinion or are you just content at digesting
hindsight news. Foresight is just as easy when you look in the right spot.
Most opinions in this blog seem regurgitated from the media. My experience in listening to the media is to do the opposite. Sell when they say buy; buy when they say to sell.
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:32 PM
“Do you guys actually have an opinion”
Do you have anything in particular in mind, Steven? You’ve gotta digest to process, yes?
“Sell when they say buy; buy when they say to sell”
Yeah, that’s an oldie and a goodie, but what makes it more difficult is that market advancements and declines are processes, not events. As you’ve alluded to, yes, it is very easy to only seek out information that reinforces your pre-existing beliefs- it’s called a confirmation bias.
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Steven, sure – we’re still in a recession. +0.1% GDP growth in June does not a recovery make, and the original GDP numbers are typically revised downwards in the months following. Q2 saw a net drop in GDP of -3.4% (economists had predicted 3.0%). Even if we see a slight recovery, I think we’re poised to quickly fall back into a “w” recession. In terms of houses, I believe the best time to buy will be late Fall this year to early Winter in 2010. I expect we’ll see a ‘rush’ of new homebuyers just prior to the anticipated BoC rate hike next Spring (April-May).
September 4th, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Employment numbers for August are out this morning, and it certainly appears the pace of losses is decreasing in most provinces. It would be nice to see more full-time jobs being created rather than part-time, but all-in-all a fairly encouraging report- especially in comparison to the US numbers. Is Sask. lagging with regard to unemployment, or is this a blip?
http://tinyurl.com/n62ss4
“Employment increased by 27,000 in August, led by part-time work and among private sector employees. Since employment peaked in October 2008, total employment has fallen by 387,000 (-2.3%). The trend in employment, however, has changed recently. Over the last five months, employment has fallen by 31,000, a much smaller decline than the 357,000 observed during the five months following October 2008.
In August, employment edged up in most provinces. Saskatchewan was the only province with a notable decline. In Saskatchewan, employment declined for the second consecutive month, down 3,200 in August. The unemployment rate, while up 0.3 percentage points, remained the lowest in Canada at 5.0%.”
September 4th, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Crikey, saw that, thanks. I’m not as optimistic that the loss of 3,500 higher paying jobs being offset by 31,000 part-time jobs is indicative of much (certainly not a recovery). Interesting that our population in SK increased by 8,000 yet at the same time 3,200 jobs were lost; perhaps not quite the ‘land of opportunity’ as the Provincial Government has portrayed in the media. Also noteworthy is that unemployment was up in all but 3 provinces (NF, NB down; BC flat).
September 4th, 2009 at 1:12 PM
“loss of 3,500 higher paying jobs being offset by 31,000 part-time jobs”
“population in SK increased by 8,000 yet at the same time 3,200 jobs were lost”
Jason, sorry if you’ve explained this elsewhere, but over what time period are your numbers for? I just can’t see where they’re coming from.
Thanks!
September 4th, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Steven,
“Foresight is just as easy when you look in the right spot.”
Well, I await the end of September with great anticipation to see if your “foresight” in predicting a $250K average price is accurate.
September 4th, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Crikey,
The Star Phoenix is reporting: “The information from Statistics Canada indicated that the number of people employed in the province dropped by a seasonally-adjusted 3,200 jobs in August compared to July.”
I can’t find any part-time vs full-time numbers.
September 4th, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Crikey, my mistake (pesky decimal points…!)… according to StatsCan population in SK increased from 780.2 to 781.0 (+800) from July 2009 to August 2009 (sorry, I should have included the reference link).
Norm, loss of -2,100 full-time and -1,100 part-time jobs in SK for the same time period (same link). I think $250k by the end of Sept is probably unrealistic; Winter could be a different story. We’ll see who gets elected…!
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/090904/t090904a4-eng.htm
September 5th, 2009 at 12:33 AM
Fundementally SK needs to sell potash, oil, and wheat to the rest of the world. Those commodities ain’t doing all that well these days. While Canpotex is trying to sell potash below peak $1000 tonne at $750 tonne, Russia is undercutting at $530 tonne. Maybe I should go to Russia and find some positive cash flow property at a 50% discount — they seem a bit distressed for $$$.
September 5th, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Hi there, question for anyone: I was recently told that if I purchased a rental property the lender would consider 80% of the rent to be charged (based on market value for that area) as income. Since it seems possible that this 80% could completely cover the monthly mortgage payment, couldn’t an individual simply continue purchasing properties to his heart’s content? Even considering the hidden costs and troubles of being a land-lord, I feel like I must be missing something here.
Thanks
September 5th, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Semi,
The lender may consider 80% of the rent revenue as income, but remember, they will only allow you to use about 40% of your gross income to service debt regardless of where the income comes from. So, let’s say your monthly income was $4,000. Normally, you would qualify to carry debts requiring $1600 of your income to service. If you were looking at a revenue property that generates $1200 per month, under the scenario you’ve suggested your gross monthly income would be $4,960, as far as the lender is concerned ($4,000 + ($1,200 x .8)). Using the same 40% allowable total debt service ratio the lender will now allow you to use up to $1,984 of your gross monthly income to service debt.
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