Saskatoon real estate week in review: August 23-27 2010
For the third consecutive week Saskatoon real estate sales picked up some steam as agents reported seventy-nine detached house and condominium sales to the multiple listing service, up eleven units compared to last week. It was the first week since early May that we actually saw sales grow on a year-over-year basis. Sixty-five Saskatoon homes changed hands during the same week in 2009.
New listings of the same two property types took a significant slide to just ninety homes, a drop of roughly forty percent from 141 last week and just below the ninety-one properties offered for sale on the Saskatoon multiple listing service for the same period last year.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
After a few weeks of growth, which is somewhat unusual for the final weeks of the summer season, the inventory of active MLS residential listings leveled off again, losing just one unit over the week to settle at 1386. Of course, at this time last year inventory was in steady decline and had already fallen from its annual peak of 1528 to just 1152 homes, so this year’s number is a little better than twenty percent above last year’s. Today, there are 818 single-family homes and 486 condos showing an active status on our system. Last year at this time there were 676 houses and 385 condominiums for sale in Saskatoon.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
Cancelled and withdrawn listings were firm at thirty-nine properties for the third week in a row, and like last week, twenty-one of those made a near immediate repeat performance as a “new listing,” returning for another attempt, most offered at a lower price. Fifty-six Saskatoon home sellers adjusted their pricing strategy this week in hopes of luring a buyer before summer closes.
The average sale price of a Saskatoon home (houses and condos) came in more than thirteen thousand dollars lower than last week at $313,122. The six-week average managed to push slightly higher, gaining about fifteen hundred dollars on the previous week to reach $298,732, an increase of roughly seventeen thousand dollars over the same week in 2009. The four-week median spiked to its highest point this year to pick up a gain of more than ten thousand dollars compared to last week and increasing twice that on a year-over-year basis. Is the growing median a sign that entry-level buyers are putting the brakes on home purchases?
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
Overbid sales were few, and those that did sell for more than the asking price were mostly new homes that almost certainly included additional improvements not factored into the list price. Six Saskatoon home sellers struck a deal at their price while sixty-nine of seventy-nine firm sales closed below list by an average of $10,152, or 3.2% below the asking price.
Click the image for a larger version of the chart.
Highlights from the news this week
Recovery hopes slip as U.S. home sales tumble
Why America stopped buying houses
Canadian home prices continue to rise
High-end buyers smell a bargain
Home prices direction depends on measure
Rising resale home prices set to stall, Teranet National Bank index says
U.S. home sales continue slide
Four reasons to sell your cottage now
A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports ishere.
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.
Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
7 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
August 29th, 2010 at 10:29 AM
“Is the growing median a sign that entry-level buyers are putting the brakes on home purchases?”
Good question. It does seem like the entry level housing here in Willowgrove is barely moving, but this is just a small area. Maybe Mr. Bubble is right that this pool of buyers is drying up. Or maybe it is just a month they decided to take off from buying.
August 29th, 2010 at 1:31 PM
This is something I’ve wondered about myself… at a cool $300K for your average home (plus all other costs), what is first time buyer activity like? I have friends who dropped just over $300K on a home and it has stretched them dangerously thin. But then again, seems there’s a whole generation of young people who never left their parents’ basement (and had their education, cars, designer clothes, etc. paid for), so maybe it is within reach for many?
Thoughts anyone?
BTW, I was in Saskatoon last weekend and it reminded me how nice a city it is!
August 29th, 2010 at 5:23 PM
Anybody here happens to know how much it costs to install an HRV or ERV system?
August 30th, 2010 at 7:15 PM
Hey Norm!
Is this news, or as so often is the case of late, sensationalism disguised as news? Thanks for your take on this in advance!
Big-name realtors plot rival listings site
@guy_in _regina,
Nice to hear from you again, stranger! With the new qualifying rules I would think that there is less first-time buyer activity, but I can’t know for sure. Sales are low and prices are sticky, with medians seemingly skewing up a bit in a lot of markets I follow. Does this mean there are more move-up buyers? Hmmm.
August 30th, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Cindy,
I’m not sure about the cost of a HRV and couldn’t locate much on the web but I’ll see if I can find out for you.
Guy_in Regina,
Indeed, nice to see you. I have been under the impression that first timers had been a major factor in this market through 2009 and the first quarter on 2010. I think they are responsible for the exceptionally strong condo action we had been seeing. Product between 200-300K is still reasonably easy to move with an aggressive marketing plan and that does seem to be about the average entry level today.
Jen,
This discussion has been in the works for a very long time. I think, more accurately, that the big three are looking at developing an infrastructure that would accommodate a smooth and efficient sharing of listing data between them. In other words, Royal Lepage would display Remax and C21 listings, as well as their own. Each brand would still have their own website but they would have use of all of the listing data and could display it in any way that met the licensing guidelines. I think the idea has merit and it would potentially lead to some interesting online offerings and some real competition for consumer eyeballs.
I have no inside information on this project, but the fact that it’s in the news now makes me wonder if there’s a connection to the Competition Bureau action against the real estate industry. Could the big three be preparing to withdraw from using realtor.ca in the event that CREA is forced to open its doors to private sellers? Further to that point, why would organized real estate continue to operate realtor.ca at all if they were forced to let anyone and everyone advertise there? Perhaps CREA will just wrap a big bow around it and give it over to the private market completely.
These are just my thoughts and understandings. I’m not sure that I’m right.
August 31st, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Thanks Norm. It’s OK. Don’t bother search for anything for me. I just wondered how the houses without an air exchanger or a range hood that vents out get rid of all the cooking smell efficiently. If it’s expensive to install any of the two, I can probably understand. Or maybe many people simply don’t cook that much or they don’t smell the smell…
August 31st, 2010 at 3:43 PM
Is Canada in a housing bubble?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/is-canada-in-a-housing-bubble/article1690435/