The new year got underway with lacklustre sales, as it typically does. Saskatoon real estate agents reported a total of 39 detached house and condominium sales to the multiple listing service®, an increase of three from the previous week, but considerably more than we saw trade during the same week last yearwhen just 24 sales were reported.Saskatoon home sellers did not waste any time getting back to business. This week saw 99 new listings in the same two housing categories, well up from last week when just 21 homes were placed on the market, but down from the same week a year ago which saw 123 new MLS® listings.
MLS® inventory levels fell big as 122 Saskatoon home listings expired without a sale at the end of the year. A brisk week of listing activity quickly brought it higher to close at 862 homes, down 50 units from the end of the previous week and pretty much on par with where is was at this time last year when 858 showed an active status. Today, there are 506 single-family detached homes and 295 condominiums for sale within the city of Saskatoon. Last year at this time, those numbers stood at 467 and 341 respectively, continuing the recent trend of an increased selection of houses and fewer condos for buyers to choose from.
Cancelled and withdrawn listings started to ramp up again as 20 sellers pulled their home from the market, however temporarily. As is most often the case, half of those re-listed the same day, most at a new asking price, and all with a new MLS® number and their “days on the market” showing a big fat zero.A poor sales performance in area one where most of our luxury homes trade caused the average sale price of a Saskatoon home to decline by $11,000 and fall below the $300K mark for the first time since late July. The six-week average price slipped thirty-five hundred dollars from last week to $313,177. It managed a year-over-year gain of roughly eight thousand dollars. The four-week median moved in the opposite direction gaining a remarkable thirteen thousand dollars over the previous week’s number to finish at $313,745 for an annual gain approaching $25,000. Note that the two longer term measures finished very close, so the dots on the left side of our chart are quite close together, barely distinguishable.

Three Saskatoon home sellers managed to find a buyer willing to pay a bit more than their asking price, all in area five, which garnered than its fair share of the market activity this week, 22 out of 39 sales. Those who paid more than the list price placed offers that were almost $5K above the asking price on average. Another seven sellers got their full asking price while 29 of 39 sellers gave up an average of $8,891 at the negotiating table to close a sale early in the year.

Once again, happy new year to all of you. I appreciate your regular visits and hope to spend a bit more time in discussion with you this year.

Highlights from the news this week.

Investing in property: a young person’s game – Globe and Mail
Saskatoon mayor hopes for strong, vibrant downtown – NewsTalk 650 CKOM
Saskatoon asking prices highest in The Willows – Star Phoenix
Montgomery battle brews - Star Phoenix
CIBC economist: More like 15% overvalued – Canadian Real Estate Magazine
Canadian unemployment rate creeps up – Financial Post
Sask. unemployment rate up slightly in December - CTV News
New SRAR leader excited about future – Star Phoenix
Will the housing decline be mild or ‘something much nastier’? – Globe and Mail

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate