Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (May 7-11 2007)
It was another interesting week in the Saskatoon real estate market. For the second week in a row, new listings outpaced sales and active listings reached their highest level since mid-December of last year. Today, there are 292 Saskatoon houses and condominiums with an “active” status on the Saskatoon MLS®.
The number of homes reported sold also dropped fairly significantly when compared to recent weeks at just 86 units.
You might expect that fewer sales and more listings would add up to a bit of a break from home buyers but that doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, the percentage of listings which sold above the asking price reached a new high of 77% when looking at all major Saskatoon real estate areas. East side home sellers hit the overbid jackpot with 87% of homes reported sold going for more than the asking price.
Average overbids topped $25,000 in all five areas, a first since I started publishing the “Week in review” back in the middle of February. The average overbid reached its highest level yet at $26,313.
Here’s a look at the numbers from last week.
See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here
Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports
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.
Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
13 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Even though I was one of the people that purchased a house with a $20,000+ overbid it still shocks me to see the average in EVERY area over that.
I can’t even begin to imagine how the first time buyers that don’t have revenue from a previous home sale feel going in to this market.
I spoke with some people in N Battleford this past week as well as Melfort. They tell me sellers are copying S’toon and setting a date/time for bids to be presented. It seems as though our crazy market is spreading to other areas even if it doesn’t hit to the same extent as it has here. Oh, and these buyers were from Calgary. Coming back to buy “affordable” homes.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Hi Carrie,
I was reviewing my graphics for the “Week in review” from the time I started in mid-February. I recall being startled at the average overbid from that first week. Here’s how it looks over a number of weeks.
02/17 – $4,735
02/24 – $6,037
03/04 – $6,950
03/11 – $12,144
03/18 – $14,155
03/25 – $14,546
03/31 – $14,076
04/05 – $20,702
04/15 – $17,894
04/22 – $23,403
04/29 – $22,798
05/06 – $25,688
05/13 – $26,313
The last few weeks make the first few weeks look pretty ho-hum.
I’m not surprised that activity is somewhat similar in NB and Melfort. Inventory is very tight across Saskatchewan. A few weeks ago, I spoke with a friend who sells real estate in Weyburn. She said there was one listing available at that time.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
I can shed some light on that Carrie (how first time buyers feel) – terrified. We paid $30,000 over asking – haven’t even moved in yet and are already wondering if we did the right thing!
We know that we’ll be able to afford the payments, but as for what sort of life we’ll have outside of that, we’re completely clueless. We know that eventually things will improve with yearly salary increases, etc. But until then, it will be tight!
We just hope it’s worth it in the end!
April 7th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
First Time Buyer – unless you purchased in ‘Alphabet Jungle’, you will probably never regret becoming a homeowner.
Congrats!
April 7th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Hi Norm,
I was looking at the market trend these past couple of weeks and it seems it is slowing down, although the overbid is higher. However even with that overbid being higher, if there are more houses and less sales (demand) the price will be decreasing!!
I feel exactly like First time Buyer in that I paid almost 50 over and would hate to see that price been too high. Really if there is an understandable reason for the housing market to have these increases and decreases it would make sense (I mean stronger economy, increase in population, etc etc). I was speaking with friends in Alberta this past weekened and they told me you could really feel the economic change (growth) in that province. I do not feel it in Saskatoon yet, are we really going through that economic growth?? or is it just speculation and we are starting to see the truth these couple of weeks.
I hope it is not like that, I hope also we did not purchased at the highest peek, you know we paid $322.000 in Parkridge for a 5 level split house (1900 sg ft on three levels) it is a big house, but also a big price to pay and we havent even taken posession yet!! big step money wise!! So First Time Buyer we are on the same page, and I am sure we have many more people by our side who are on the same situation….
April 7th, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Norm,
Given the inventory available in the market verses houses sold (and the over bidding price over 25K) only one thing comes to my mind. There are in fact a large number of houses in the market not in SALEABLE condition. What I mean to say here is that sellers are trying to take advantage of market and are putting houses on sales which are below standard, very old or highly over priced. This means that bidding war has been narrowed down to fewer good properties resulting in a further push in prices. Your comments?
April 7th, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Maria,
Even if housing prices take a dip, they will stabilize and will eventually grow in value again. Unless you just bought your house to live in for a year or two, I don’t think you should really care about a minor softening or leveling or prices. No, your house might not have been a bargain (and neither is my new one), but in the long run, it’ll be a good price.
Also I feel the economic increases in Saskatoon. It’s not as noticeable as Calgary, but there are new neighbourhoods springing up, new shopping areas and new businesses everywhere. Saskatoon definitely is increasing in size and importance.
-Todd
April 7th, 2009 at 9:13 AM
I coming to live and work in Saskatoon in July. (Not just buy an investment property). I read your webpage with interest and have now mentally prepared myself for a price overbid. I was attracted to Saskatoon by its city with a small town attitude reputation and having visited have thankfully had this confirmed. Just hope that property market doesnt spoil this attraction for others wanting to come and live in this beautiful city.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Mike,
It sure hasn’t hurt Calgary.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Maria,
There were more homes sold the week before last than in any other week this year. Granted, listings have been slightly higher than sales for the last two weeks, we are still a long way away for seeing some balance. As long as I’ve been in this business we have normally had 700-800 active listings and prices still increased from one year to the next. Seems to me that demand is much higher than normal so I don’t think I’d worry too much about prices dropping. I think it will take 800-1000 listings to balance this market out.
I agree with Todd about Saskatoon’s economy. I don’t ever recall so much positive talk from so many people.
Hope you can relax and enjoy the fact that you’re out of this mad market.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Kabir, don’t be fooled by the “active listings” number. Most of them have contracts pending but they maintain an active status on the MLS until they are firm sales. There is no question however that some sellers are “taking advantage of the market” by selling homes which wouldn’t get a second look in a more balanced market. There’s a lot of junk coming and going at pretty silly prices. Even if all three hundred homes were actually available for purchase, we’d still be looking at just a three week supply which is very low.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Mike,
Congrats on your pending move to Saskatoon. Housing market aside, it is a pretty good place to live. Hope it lives up to your expectations.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Norm,
You are right, prices have been increasing for the last years. I am happy to be out of this crazy race, also as Todd said, this investment in my case is a long term investment.
Sometimes it is still a challenge to accept the amount we paid, but maybe in a few years from now I may think I got a good deal.
Good luck to all of you who are still looking and take care Norm