What’s really happening in the Saskatoon real estate market?
If you’ve spoken to a Saskatoon real estate agent lately, you’ve undoubtedly been left with the impression that the market is hot, and it certainly is. It’s very easy to lose perspective though, because we most often hear the exceptional stories repeated.
You might have the impression that all homes listed are attracting offers in excess of the listed price and that’s simply not true. I thought I’d give you a bit of an overview of the sales activity from last week to give you a truer picture of what’s going on.
The following chart shows the total number of residential sales in each Saskatoon area (geographic definitions below) followed by the number of homes which sold below the asking price, at the asking price and above the asking price.
The next chart shows the average list price, average sale price, and the average overbid where homes sold above the asking price.
Even I was surprised to find that over 50% of residential listings are still selling below the list price, though marginally. Fewer than 25% are actually selling above the list price. It’s very clear that on average seller’s are receiving offers which are very close to the asking price but you can’t assume that you’ll need to pay more than list for every Saskatoon real estate listing.
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
7 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Norm – here in MN buyers will almost never pay the asking price, it does not matter how low or fair it is. The news media here has used terms like bubble and buyers market so mcuh that I think most buyers are afraid to buy and afraid of paying too much. It is hard when I talk my sellers into a price reduction and then have the buyers still take onother 10 to 20k off the price.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Thanks Teresa, I guess there are always some challenges when the market favours either the buyer or the seller. I really feel for buyers when it’s this tough to find a home and it is hard to always feel certain about how to advise them. You hate to see anyone pay too much but in this market if it takes an additional three months to find a good home there is probably a real cost to that as well.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 PM
It seems to me that realtors are inflating the market with their bidding war tactics.Although I’m sure their are a lot of people coming back to Sk.due to housing prices,the actual fact is only about 1500 people returned according to the census report And that is for all of Sk. not just Saskatoon.I have to really think about purchasing a home here or moving to a smaller community.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Dan, it’s an interesting idea that you put forward. Personally, I don’t think realtors deserve that much credit and consumers certainly deserve more.
Do you think the fact that there are likely fewer than 100 homes for sale in Saskatoon has anything to do with it?
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:25 PM
I recently bought a bungalow, attached garage in Silver Springs, and paid $70,000 over that price, there were more bidders than mine. They needed mortgages, I didn’t. Is cash really something sellers are interested in because of inability to get mortages these days? Just my question to you, as I have received a lot of varied answers.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 PM
This is a great idea and will help both the Realtors and buyers. Nothing worse than a buyer at the closing table feeling buyer’s remorse.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Thanks John. I appreciate the comment.