Saskatoon real estate week in review: August 30-September 3 2010
Following three weeks of increasing sales the Saskatoon real estate market slowed again and firm sales of houses and condominiums slipped to sixty-eight units, down eleven from last week, and well below the 102 properties that changed hands during the same week last year.
New listings moved sharply in the opposite direction as local agents brought 131 new listings to the Saskatoon multiple listing service, up from ninety listings last week and 120 for the same period in 2009. The final week of each month normally sees a high percentage of the month’s expired listings and it’s not unusual for a good number of those get relisted during the same week. They’re not really new, but there’s no practical way to separate them from the others.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
It’s also pretty typical to see a large percentage of the month-end expired listings stay off of the system, especially at this time of the year when the market is experiencing a seasonal downward slide in demand. Coming off 2009’s highs, this year’s slide feels a bit more serious than the normal seasonal slowdown so it’s no real surprise that active listings fell this week as some would be home sellers whose circumstances don’t demand an immediate sale, make the gamble and hope for better days next spring. The total inventory of residential listings on the MLS system fell by forty-eight units to finish the week at 1338, which is still well above last year’s total of 1082. Still, this week’s number is the lowest we’ve seen since inventory peaked for the year at 1427 listings the week of June 21-25. Today, there are 782 single-family homes and 476 condominiums included in that grand total, up from 623 and 375 respectively at this time in 2009. That leaves each of those housing types up more than twenty-five percent, year-over-year.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
Cancelled and withdrawn listings were slightly higher than they were last week at forty-two. Twenty-four of those properties found their way back on the system during the same week with a fresh MLS number and a “new listing” flag. Another sixty-one Saskatoon home sellers chose to adjust the asking price on their listing in hopes of enticing a buyer to the negotiating table.
The average sale price of a Saskatoon home (houses and condos) slipped again for the second week in a row but remained at lofty levels, well above $300K. This week’s average price was down $2500 from last week when it sat at $313,122 but the closing number of $309,493 was enough to trump the average for the same week last year by almost $15,000. The six-week average selling price pushed higher by $6,000 on the week to $304,573 and moved $19,000 higher than it was for the same period in 2009. The four-week median price inched higher by $1,500 on a week-over-week basis and shattered last year’s number by $21K. Both the six-week average and the four-week median selling prices reached new highs for 2010 this week.
Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
Overbid sales almost disappeared with just one seller managing a deal above the asking price, and by only $600. Eleven others managed to get their price while fifty-six of sixty-eight sales reported a discount averaging $9,758 or three percent of the asking price.
Click the image for a larger version of the chart.
Highlights from the news this week
Big-name Realtors plot rival site
Real estate brokerages to share information
Canada’s Housing Bubble – An Accident Waiting to Happen: CCPA
Housing bubble looms as prices soar
Slowdown hands Carney pause
No housing bust here: CD Howe
Is Canada in a housing bubble?
Home starts growing – Sask housing still lags behind boom years (Regional)
Rate hike could hurt recovery: McGuinty
The end of Canadian real estate insanity
The truth buried beneath the stats: Buyers are looking for a bargain
Canada’s housing boom ends with a whimper, not a bang
City home sales slide in August (Local)
Hard times in the playground
Canadian housing starts will weaken but won’t be infected by the US virus: Journal of Commerce
Have a great long weekend everyone!
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An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
2 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
September 5th, 2010 at 9:42 PM
It is surprising that new listings are double sales but “total active residential listings” is down. If sellers are choosing to sit on the sidelines and wait it out, the market has more potential listings, and weakness, than those numbers show!
September 6th, 2010 at 4:51 PM
BC,
Expired listings are not necessarily a sign of weakness. More often than not, they are a sign that the market is working by rejecting listings which aren’t priced realistically. Expired listing rates in the 30 percent range aren’t uncommon in healthy, balanced markets. 346 residential listings expired over June, July and August in Saskatoon while 1,967 were offered for sale. That’s an expiry rate of 17.5%. Hardly alarming.
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