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Saskatoon real estate week in review: July 1-7, 2012

Welcome to July of 2012. The spring market is officially behind us.

Saskatoon real estate continued to move at a pretty good pace with 102 house and condominium sales reported to the MLS® over the course of the week. That finish left us down just two units from the strong results recorded the previous week and up by eight home sales when compared against the same week last year.

New listings of Saskatoon homes added to the multiple listing service® matched those from the previous week at 158 units to record an increase of 32 properties over the same period a year ago.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

As is the case at the close of every month, a number of expired listings fell out of the system and total active MLS® listings in the residential category slipped lower by 25 properties from the close of last week to 1204. That number is lower than it was at the same point in 2011 by 227 homes, or about 15 percent. Today’s inventory shows a total of 737 single-family homes and 394 condominiums as “active.” Last year at this time those categories stood at 819 and 524 respectively.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average sale price of a Saskatoon home slipped lower for the second week in a row and settled at $331,095. The weekly median, affected by more activity at the Saskatoon real estate market’s entry level dropped about 12.5K to $312,000. The longer-term measures both fell this week with the six-week average sale price of a Saskatoon home finishing lower by about seven thousand dollars and the four-week median down by twenty-five hundred. The six-week average closed the week at $332,678 for an annual gain of about twelve thousand dollars, one of the lowest year-over-year gains we’ve seen this year. The four-week median fell lower for the fourth consecutive week to $312,000 to finish ahead of last year by $12,500.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Just one Saskatoon home buyer paid more than the seller’s asking price this week, and not by much ($100). Another eight buyers paid the seller’s full asking price while 93 deals closed below the seller’s asking price by an average of $9,325. I’m speculating here, but I believe that’s about as good as it’s been for buyers during any week this year. Supply is down and demand is up but buyers are reluctant to engage in bidding wars and even where multiple offers exist sales above the asking price are becoming more rare each week.

In other MLS® activity this week, there were 34 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 59 that came to the end of their term and expired without a sale and 35 sellers who lowered their asking price.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this past week

Banks warn Ottawa over lending rules – Globe and Mail
Why we’re selling our house first and buying later – Globe and Mail
Using your home as a retirement fund carries risk – Financial Post
Saskatoon/Minnesota real estate markets like two different worlds – Globe and Mail
Sask. posts record job, labour force numbers in June – Star Phoenix
May a productive month for Sask. construction – Star Phoenix

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.

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