New Saskatoon real estate listings increased marginally from last week as a total of 139 properties were offered for sale on the MLS system including 122 single-family homes and condominiums. Total active listings increased from 1,739 last weekto finish the week at 1,756 units including 1,094 houses and 543 condos. 39 sellers used the “cancel and relist” strategy to adjust their asking price and an additional 121 price changes were processed through the course of the week.

This past week produced the highest level of sales activity that we’ve seen since the week of July 28-August 1 with a total of 70 house and condo sales firming up, but just 20 additional properties are displaying the “conditional sale” flag, about 50% lower than what’s typical lately.

The average selling price was significantly lower than it has been in recent weeks, but a couple of large sales kept it above the $300,000 mark for the third consecutive week. Another residential sale over one million dollars was processed this week so the average selling price for the week was still subject to some skewing. The monthly numbers will also be affected. To the best of my knowledge this is the first month ever in which two residential sales topped that benchmark.

The percentage of sales that occurred at, or above the list price spiked higher than in recent weeks as five sellers get their asking price and four received an average of $18,000 more.

I’ve missed a couple of big housing stories this week. I’ve been away at a conference in St. John’s since Wednesday so a busy schedule has prevented me from spending much time here. To top it off, the hosting company that has been hosting my images seems to have performed a disappearing act so all of my free time has been spent switching hosts to get my images back online. I’ll try to write something about the new Merrill Lynch report, and the paper that Scotiabank releasedin response.

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 Vidorra

The pace of new Saskatoon real estate listings slowed some from previous weeks as just 130 residential listings made their way to the multiple listing service including 117 single-family homes and condominiums, the smallest number we’ve seen for any week since the week of March 17-21. Total residential listing inventories showed little change from last week, moving up just one unit to 1,738 properties. Single-family and condo inventories showed equally modest drops from the previous week to settle at 1,083 and 538 respectively. Historically, this is the time of year when active listing inventories begin to slide some. It will be interesting to see if that trend occurs this year.

Residential units sales also softened sliding from 58 units last week to 50 units this week but sales in the single-family and condo categories were down further falling to 42 properties compared to 57 the week before. It was reasonably good week for those looking to unload “revenue property” as close to half of the month’s sales were completed over the past seven days.

A total of 75 residential properties were either cancelled or withdrawn from the MLS and 50 of those units found their way back to the system as “new listings,” most with a new price. An additional 136 price adjustments were processed over the course of the week. Still, the average asking price in the single-family home and condo categories is $336,898, significantly higher than the average selling price of $282,470 recorded in August.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home was up again at $316,380 largely due to one sale in area 1 which broke the million-dollar mark and pushed the overall average about $18,000 higher. This was the third residential sale to crack the one million dollar mark since May of this year. Before that, the entire MLS history shows just one sale in this price category within the city limits.

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 Vidorra

Following a painfully slow week for the Saskatoon real estate market, residential unit sales bounced back with 58 properties trading hands, including 57 condos and single-family homes.

New listing activity remained strong with a total of 165 residential properties hitting the market including 115 single-family homes and 40 condominiums. Total residential listings crept higher once again to settle at 1,737 units. 1,086 of those properties are single-family homes and 539 are condominiums. The balance of available units includes semi-detached, duplexes, mobiles and vacant lots.

93 sellers canceled or withdrew their listing from the multiple listing service and 69 of those homes re-entered the market disguised as a new listing. An additional 162 houses and condos were reduced in price through the week and all but a few of the re-listed properties saw a change to their pricing strategy at the same time.

Average sale prices took a large increase jumping to $312,978 from $285,435 last week. Prices came in higher in three of the five major Saskatoon real estate trading areas, but the increase was most notable in area 1 where four sales above the $600,000 mark (two above $800,000) pushed the average higher.

Overbidding made a small comeback this week with three units reporting final sale prices which exceeded the listing price. That’s the largest number in several weeks. The average overbid of $5,700 was also at its highest point since the week of July 7-11. The majority of home buyers (53) managed to negotiate a price below asking with an average discount of $12,059, just slightly lower than last week.

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 Vidorra

Saskatoon real estate sales activity is often on the softer side through the last week of August and the first week of September as families take a break to get kids back to school. This past week was no exception with residential real estate sales slowing to just 38 units including 36 properties in the single-family and condo categories. 23 of the 36 home sales occurred on Saskatoon’s east end. North end sellers were nearly shut out with just 2 sales being reported for the week.

If there was a retreat, most of the breaking happened on the buyer side as new listings increased from previous weeks. 167 residential properties were introduced to the market including 90 houses and 70 new condominium listings. Total actives reached a new high at 1,704 residential properties including 1,060 single-family homes and 537 condos. 686 of those properties show up as vacant, including 88 properties that are categorized as “new.” Through the course of the week, 50 residential properties were cancelled and 40 of those listings re-surfaced as new listings. 117 motivated sellers changed their pricing strategy.

Fewer than 10% of homes sold got their full asking price and the average underbid increased from last week to $13,751. The average selling price reached its highest point in a month to settle at $285,435, up from $270,911 last week.

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 Vidorra