Single-family detached home sales softened through the month of May falling to 232 units, down nineteen from April to fall short of last May’snumbers by fifteen homes. Those that did sell moved far quicker (twenty-eight days) than they did during the same month last year when houses took an average on forty days to sell.
The inventory of active house listings continued to push higher but still fell short of last year’s highs. At the close of the month 822 single-family homes were showing an active status on the Saskatoon multiple listing service. That number represents a gain of one hundred units over the month and a decline of sixty-nine on a year-over-year basis. Still, housing inventory took a big step into more of a “balanced market” territory as the “months of supply” expanded from 2.9 months at the end of April to 3.5 months by the end of May.
Average house prices inched lower to $321,263 dropping by about $8,600 when compared to April. The average selling price of a Saskatoon house was up just under ten thousand dollars when compared with May of 2009. The median slipped lower by three thousand dollars on a month-over-month basis falling to $315,000 and recording a gain of twenty thousand dollars on the year. The three-month average pushed up slightly to $320,946 and also finished up by roughly twenty thousand over the past twelve months. Only eight single-family home sales were recorded above the $500,000 mark in May whereas April produced twenty sales in that range. April’s price numbers were certainly skewed higher by this unusually larger number of sales at the market’s high end.
While house sales began to cool off Saskatoon condominium sales remained strong. 117 units changed hands during the month, up from 104 in the month of April and just slightly higher than the 111 units that sold in May of 2009.
Condominium inventory spiked higher through May reaching 503 by the end of the month to bring us the first year-over-year inventory gain that we’ve seen in nearly twelve months. Total condo inventory moved up from 444 at the close of April to finish May above last year’s number of 480. Still, increased demand kept the “months of inventory” from swelling further. It remained steady at a 4.3-month supply following a big jump in April when it moved to up from just 3.2 months in March.
Saskatoon condo prices surged forward again with the average selling price reaching $242,998, up nearly thirteen thousand dollars from last month. The year-over-year gain was substantial moving more than fifteen percent from $210,544 last May. The median selling price showed similar gains climbing $26,000 over the past year to $235,000. The three-month average moved up less gaining just one thousand dollars from April and seventeen thousand dollars on a year-over-year basis.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra