RSS

Some call it a report on the obvious, while others see it as big news.


No matter how you view the Frontier Centre for Public Policy’s International Housing Affordability Survey, you’d be hard pressed to make a convincing argument that housing affordability hasn’t suffered a serious blow in Saskatoon over the past couple of years. In fact, you’d have to be a fool to even try. When the average selling price of a home nearly doubles in two years time you’re going to see some pretty serious deterioration in affordability. Most of us didn’t need an “international study” to tell us that the cost of home ownership has skyrocketed here but some might be a bit surprised to learn that no other city in Canada has seen affordability deteriorate to the same extent as Saskatoon. According to the study, Saskatoon is now among the ranks of the “seriously unaffordable.”


I suppose the greatest value of this kind of study, if you feel you can trust the methodology and actual statistics, is that it provides a bit of a benchmark as to how we’re doing locally compared to other markets around the world. The Demographia study looks at 265 housing markets and determines housing affordability for each assigning a “median multiplier” as its affordability measure. The “median multiplier” shows you how many years of median household income it takes to buy a home priced at the median in each market.  We’re not quite sure which median income measure was used, or how a “house” is actually defined, but let’s assume that these measures are consistent from one survey to the next and see how things have changed in relation to some other Canadian markets. Here’s a quick look at the changes over the last three survey periods.


Recent price declines would suggest that Saskatoon might have already bottomed out as far as affordability is concerned, at least for now. I haven’t been able to make sense of the “median price” that the Demographia study has used for Saskatoon, but I can say with certainty that the median price of a Saskatoon house has been $21,250 lower over the past 90 days compared to the third quarter of 2008, the period that is measured for the study. It’s down $38,000 from its peak in Q2 when the median price of a Saskatoon house hit $315,000. Things are starting to look up for affordability. With any luck, we’ll be back in the “moderately unaffordable” category soon, and even that has a nice ring to it right now.


See the latest Demographia Affordability Study here

A copy of the 2008 study is here (data from Q3/07)

A copy of the 2007 study is here (data from Q3/06)


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 Vidorra

Read

Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (January 19-23 2009)

Eighty-five Saskatoon houses and condominiums were offered for sale this week, down eight units from the previous week, and up five from the same week last year. An additional seven properties (duplexes, apartment building, etc.) brought total listings for the Saskatoon real estate market to ninety-five this week. Presently, there are a total of 710 single-family detached houses and 406 condominiums for sale on the local MLS system. Total active residential listings sit at 1,192 units, up just one from the week before.


Residential unit sales reached seventy-one units including sixty-nine houses and condos to claim the best sales week in terms of overall unit numbers since the week of September 22-26 of last year. I should point out that sales of houses and condos for the same week last year reached 91 units so while “units” are showing some signs of improving we have been down for three of four sales weeks that fall into this year. At this point there is little doubt in my mind that we will fall short of matching last January’s record breaking sales numbers of 300 units, but with a total of 166 properties already reported as firmly sold, and weekly sales showing some solid improvements it seems likely that we will be able to produce sales sufficient to claim a “second best January.” The previous best for a January prior to 2008 was just 219 residential properties. In spite of all of the doom and gloom surrounding the economy, and real estate in general, home sales in Saskatoon are better than average over the past two months. No doubt, some of you will find my optimism grossly offensive, but demand for Saskatoon homes is strong. Cuts to interest rates and price drops over the last quarter have improved conditions for buyers and they are clearly responding.  Naturally, inventory continues to be the wild card which will influence future prices as well as days to sell. Wise sellers will realize that they have their challenges ahead of them, likely for some time to come.


Over the course of the week, a total of 45 price changes were recorded on the Saskatoon MLS. Additionally, 25 listings were canceled and re-listed, most of those offered at a new lower price. The average selling price of houses and condos dipped down $10,000 from the week before to finish at $268,072. The six-week average increased slightly to $274,026 claiming a gain of nearly $20,000 over the same week last year. The four-week median price slid $3,000 to $262,000, remaining up just $7,000 from the same week a year earlier. The median sale price for the week was just $247,000, down significantly from recent weeks when it topped $270K. Clearly, like the weekly average, this number is subject to wild swings on a weekly basis. We’ve seen it move from $195K to $285K from week to week over the last quarter.


At first glance, the underbid activity looks very similar to the previous week. The average underbid saw little change and maintained some stickiness around the $13K mark. The percentage of sellers who struck a deal within $5,000 of their asking price held steady at 35%, while the $5,001-$10,000 range took a slide from 27% last week to 22% this week. The buyers lost from that category stepped up to the $10,001-$15,000 which gained five percentage points to finish at 20%. The higher discount categories showed little change over the previous week.


At second glance, and upon closer inspection you’ll see something occurring here that hasn’t happened in awhile; a full 10% of sales from this week traded at or above the seller’s asking price. Four above list price sales generated an average “overbid” of $11,550.


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 Vidorra

Read

Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (January 12-16 2009)

The Saskatoon real estate market continued to show promising signs of life as the holiday season got further behind us and people continued to get back to the business of life. A total of 50 residential properties were reported as firmly sold this week including 48 single-family houses and condominiums, an increase of 7 homes from last week, and just 3 fewer than the same week last year. Just three weeks into the new year the sales line on our graph does seem to be mirroring last year’s sales activity.


A total of 93 Saskatoon houses and condos were added to the MLS system this week, up from 73 during the same week last year, but down significantly compared to last week when 134 new listings were offered for sale. Additionally, 17 of the 28 properties that were canceled or withdrawn from the system made another appearance, re-introduced as a new listing. Still, the total residential listing inventory managed to remain fairly flat finishing the week at 1,191 units, up just three from the week before. Of course, total active listings continue to be the “800-pound gorilla in the room” as the inventory hovers at levels approximately three times higher than it was at this time last year. While real estate sales activity looks promising in comparison to last year, listing numbers are definitely up (249 houses and condos listed year to date compared to 207 for the same period last year), and given the high inventory levels at the start of the year, this will continue be a concern for some, primarily sellers and seller’s agents.


The average selling price of the Saskatoon homes that traded this week came in lower, falling from $284,563 last week to finish at $278,301. The six-week average increased slightly over the previous week moving from $268,110 to $270,116 and managed to maintain a gain of $14,500 compared to the same week last year when it reached nearly $255,600. The four-week median price took a larger jump to $265,000, up about $5,000 from the previous week and about $9,000 higher than the same week last year. The latter two measures appear to be headed for slightly higher ground as some of December’s lackluster sales weeks get shaken out of the equation.


Just 46 price changes were recorded in the residential category this week, and of course, most of the 17 properties that were canceled and re-listed came back on the system at a lower price. Saskatoon home sellers met a more congenial home buyer over the past seven days as 6 sellers (12.5%) managed to get their full asking price and the average underbid came in lower at just $13,134 compared to $16,405 the week before. A full 62% of buyers signed a deal within $10K of the asking price, compared to just 37% the week before. Naturally, this affected all of the larger “discount” categories. The $10,001-$15,000 discount range fell to just 17% from 32%. The $15,001-$20,000 and the $20,001-$25,000 dropped by nearly half to 4% and 6% respectively while the percentage of sellers who gave up more than $25K fell from 14% to 11%. 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 Vidorra

Read

Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (February 9-13 2009)

The inventory of residential real estate listings gained some ground again this week breaking the 1,200 mark for the first time since late December to settle at 1,213 units including 737 single-family homes and 395 condominiums. Last year at this time, total residential listings sat at 361 units including 189 single-family houses and just 133 condos. Over the course of the week Saskatoon real estate agents added 118 single-family homes and condominiums to the local MLS database. That number represents a decline in new listings of twenty-four properties compared to last week when 142 homes were listed, and an increase of eleven properties compared to the same week last year when 107 homes were offered for sale.


Unit sales strengthened some for the second consecutive week as sixty homes were reported sold, up from forty-nine last week, but down sharply from the ninety-four homes recorded as sold during the same week last year.


Sixty-two Saskatoon home sellers changed their price over the course of the week, while an additional fourteen canceled and re-listed at a new price hoping to attract a buyer.


The average selling price for the week came back down to earth following two weeks in which the averages were pushed higher due to sales exceeding $1 million. This week, the average fell nearly $20,000 to close at $278,727. The six-week average remained stable at $281,811 when compared to the previous week but it continues to show gains of nearly $30,000 compared with the same week last year when it was just $251,804. The four-week median price fell $5,500 from last week, reaching $259,000, a gain of $17,000 compared with the same week last year.


How is it that prices still appear to be fairly strong on a year-over-year basis? Is the average Saskatoon home still fetching $30,000 more than it would have during the same week last year? Technically, yes. Were prices actually up in January over the previous January as the real estate board stats suggest? Absolutely not and this is where “averages” can be misleading. The “average price” is certainly higher but it’s important to note that different types of homes are selling. In January 2008, condominiums accounted for a full 40% of all residential sales. In January 2009, condo sales accounted for just 20% of all residential sales. If you remove all of the “other stuff” like vacant lots, mobile homes, duplexes, etc. and just look at the ratio of houses and condos, you’ll see that condos account for 45% of sales in 2008 and just 20% in 2009. Let’s do a little math here to demonstrate the point. To make this exercise as simple as possible, and to demonstrate how this kind of a condo to house sale ratio can skew the averages, let’s assume that prices are roughly the same in January 2009 as they were in January 2008. We’ll use $290,000 for single-family homes and $220,000 for the condos.


You’ll note that the “average sale price” increases more than $17,000, or approximately seven per cent in this example on a year-over-year basis. In fact, everyone that bought a house paid $290,000 and everyone who bought a condominium paid $220,000 in each of the two years. Prices did not change at all. This is precisely the case for Saskatoon homes. As the “Closer look” for January suggests, the price of a Saskatoon home is pretty close to what it was at this time last year. While the average sale price is seven per cent higher this year, prices have not increased seven percent since January 2008.


The average underbid came in much lower this week at $13,438, compared to $17,018 the week before. Still, buyers paying a price within $10,000 of the asking price fell to fewer than 50%, a rare occurrence even in this tough buyer’s market. The seven percent of buyers lost in these categories moved directly to the big underbid categories with the $15,001-$20,000 category growing from 12% to 17% and the $20,001-$25,000 category growing from 2% last week to 5% this 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.

Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

Read

Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (January 5-9 2009)

Following the two slowest weeks of 2008, the Saskatoon real estate market came out of the gate strong for the first full business week of the year as residential unit sales climbed to 45 units, up from just 16 the previous week. 34 single-family homes and 7 condominiums were reported as firm, topping sales for the same week last year by a total of three homes. That’s hardly a substantial difference, but just the same, it’s the first time we’ve seen an “up over last” year when it comes to units sales for quite some time.


Residential listings also came off the starting block at breakneck speeds as a total of 149 residential properties were offered for sale on the Saskatoon MLS including 100 single-family homes and 34 condominiums, 58% more than were listed during the same week last year. In 2008, we didn’t see these kinds of weekly listing numbers until March and given that our current active listing inventory is already at about 3 times what it was last January, I’m hoping this is one of those blips on the chart that sorts itself out next week, and not a sign of things to come. While I have no doubts that there are many more listings to come, I was hoping that it would follow the more traditional path showing its most aggressive growth closer to spring. Given the surge in residential listings this week, it’s no big surprise that total active listings increased. After falling to 1,121 at the close of December the active listing inventory reached 1,188 by the end of the week marking the first increase we’ve seen since they started to decline in September. There are currently 722 single-family homes and 395 condos displaying the “active” flag.


Saskatoon home prices gained some traction and came in higher again for the second week in a row. The average selling price for the house/condo category was $284,563 for the week, up from $265,492 the week before. The six-week average fell marginally from $269,489 to $268,100 while the four-week median increased by more than $15,000, from $244,000 last week to $259,900, and settling roughly 13.5% lower than it’s peak of $299,900 in June of 2008. I’m not at all surprised to see this upward adjustment following this particular measure’s poor performance through December when it declined a whopping $26,000 over just a few weeks after sticking fairly close to the $270,000 mark thirteen weeks in a row.


50 price changes were recorded over the course of the week, not including the 29 properties that were canceled and re-listed during the same week, most at a new price. The average underbid increased to $16,405, up close to $1,000 from the week before. The percentage of buyers who paid a price within $5,000 of the asking price saw a huge increase to 27%, up from just 7% the week before. The $5,001-$10,000 discount range shrunk just as hard falling from 31% last week to just 10% this week. The $15,001-$20,000 discount range also softened significantly, while the $10,001-$15,000 saw some huge growth, as did the largest discount categories.


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 Vidorra

Read

A closer look at the Saskatoon real estate statistics for December 2008

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors recently reported December sales and prices for the entire residential category including single-family homes (houses), condominiums, semi-detached properties, duplexes, mobile homes and vacant lots. Unit sales totaled 162 properties across all of these property types, and an average sale price of $266,411. Let’s have a look at how houses (single-family detached homes) and condominiums did in comparison to the entire residential category.


Month end expired contracts pushed total active residential listings down at the end of December settling at 1,127 properties, and reaching their lowest levels since April of 2008. Still, the total inventory of Saskatoon homes was sharply higher than last December when available properties fell to just 346. Single-family homes took a sharp dive falling from 882 units at the end of November to close the year at 684. Available Saskatoon condos followed a similar trend falling from 493 to 381 in one month’s time.


House sales slowed as they always do in December losing 23 units compared to November, and falling short of December 2007 sales which topped 140 mark. 109 Saskatoon houses changed hands last month. Condos bucked the typical trend and showed an increase of 6 units from November with a total of 44 reported sales through the month of December, off 12 units from the previous December. If you’re looking for the silver lining, December sales of condos and houses did manage to exceed numbers recorded in all previous years. All things considered, this strikes me as a fairly remarkable change from our more recent months. It will be interesting to see if lower interest rates, and softer prices motivate buyers to enter the market as we move towards spring.


Indeed prices were softer in December as Saskatoon houses took a significant beating and showed losses in all four of the value measures we’ve been tracking over the past two years. The average sale price took the biggest thump losing well over $25,000 as it fell from $302,508 to just $274,521 and reaching it’s lowest level since December 2007 when the average house price was recorded at $267,342. The median sale price dropped $21,000 to $264,000 on a month-over-month basis and was actually slightly lower than last year’s number of $264,900. The three-month average fell close to $14K compared to last month landing at $295,956, down about $35,000 from it’s peak of $331,630 in June, but remaining up by almost as much when compared with the same month last year.


It’s certainly worth mentioning that the houses sold in November were larger than those sold in December. In November, Saskatoon home buyers purchased an average of 1,252 square feet, compared to 1,186 square feet in December. Using our average price per square foot number for the month, about half of the massive slide in the average selling price could be attributed to this factor.  Two of the five major trading areas managed an increase in the price per square foot on houses that traded. On the heels of an unusually large slide in November, area 4 rose from $162 per square foot last month to $173 in December while area 1 saw a marginal increase from $254 to $257. Area 3 took the largest slide, losing about $23 per square foot to finish at $221. Across all Saskatoon real estate trading areas, the average price per square foot for a Saskatoon house dipped $11 from $242 in November to $231 in December.


Saskatoon condos produced surprises this month beyond stronger unit sales showing price gains in three of our four value measures. The average sale price increased $14,000 compared to the previous month and finished at $236,896, or about $2,600 higher than the same month last year. The median fell short of last year’s number finishing at $219,500, but was up about $5,500 from November. The three-month average slipped from $230,812 last month to settle at $229,082, or about $7,000 lower than it was in December of last year. A small handful of well appointed luxury type condos in areas 2 and 3 take at least some of the credit for the gains.


The price per square foot number for Saskatoon condominiums saw an overall increase of $2 over the previous month, rising to $219 in December. Still, it sits about $15 lower than it was in December 2007 and at its second lowest point since May of 2007.


The gap between the price of a Saskatoon house and a condo closed considerably through the month of December, at least on a price per square foot basis as house prices came down and condos edged slightly higher. Higher end sales pushed the average price per square foot in area 3 up by more than 25% to $259, and area 2 saw gains of about half as much rising from $217 last month to $243 in December. Area 1 continued to slide falling from $216 to $201. Area 4 remained stable as a result of no condo sales for the fifth consecutive month. Area 5 shows a large slide from a bizarre previous high of $255, falling through the floor to just $179. I should point out that area 5’s number is based on just two sales so a large change is not at all surprising.


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 Vidorra

Read

Found by way of Larry Yatkowski, author of the world renowned Yatter Matters blog in his recent post, "Is an anus a patent defect?" Larry covers the Vancouver real estate market in a way you'll appreciate.


Thanks for this little gem Larry!


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 Vidorra

Read

This media release was just received from the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors regarding real estate activity for Saskatoon through December 2008.


The Saskatoon real estate market is stabilizing. Markets are cyclical and Saskatoon’s market is in a low of the cycle providing opportunity for buyers. Many home buyers that were previously out priced in the market are now able to purchase a home.  Now is an excellent time to buy or invest, as the market will rebound again.


Year-end sales figures have softened when measured against 2007 sales figures but are slightly stronger than 2005 and 2006. Saskatoon REALTORS® sold 162 residential units in the month of December, down 22% from December 2007 when 209 units were sold. In December 2005, 152 units sold and in December 2006, 157 units sold. Year to date 3522 homes have sold, down 21% from 2007 when 4,443 homes sold. In 2005, a total of 3,246 homes were sold, and in 2006 3,430 homes sold.


REALTORS® sold $43,158,000 of in city residential real estate in the month of December, down 19% from December 2007 when $53,479,000 was sold. Year to date figures saw more than a billion dollars of real estate exchange hands. In 2008 there was $1,013,551,000 of residential real estate sold down 2% from 2007 when $1,033,723,000 was sold.


The December and year to date average selling price remained stable. The average selling price in December was $266,411.00 up 4% from December 2007 when the average was $255,885.00. Year to date the average selling price was $287,777.00. The average selling price indicates sustained demand for mid to upper price range homes. Home sale prices have softened from the high experienced in May and June of this year when the average selling price exceeded $300,000.00.


Listing inventory remains high with buyers having 1127 homes to select from at the end of December, up 226% from December 2007 when 346 homes were available for purchase. There were 8,135 homes listed for sale in 2008, up 40% from year-end figures in 2007 when 5,823 homes were placed on the market.


Saskatoon will not be exempt from the global economic slow down but is well positioned to weather the storm. The city job market remains steady. The provincial government’s support for infrastructure development will also assist in stimulating our local economy. This and other stimuli will likely contribute to Saskatoon and the province being less affected by the global slow down than other provinces. This positioning will assist in a quicker economic recovery when the global situation improves.


Stay tuned for our “Closer look” at the Saskatoon real estate statistics for December, which will provide a detailed breakdown of single-family homes sales, condominium sales and prices for each major real estate area. That report will follow before the end of the 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.


Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

Read

Goodbye 2008! My best wishes for a happy New Year for each and every one of you Saskatoon real estate junkies.


Before I get started on this week’s review I just have a couple of comments about the graphs you’ll be seeing in this week’s post. Initially, they might be a tad bit confusing but I think you’ll see what I’m trying to do here. I thought it would be best if we could track the 2009 data against the 2008 data, so I’m using the completed 2008 graphs as a starting point. I’ve added a new data series for each of the numbers we track through the year and brought it in on the left side of the graph. At this point, the 2009 numbers are single points. I’ve made last years trend lines about 50% transparent hoping that they’ll be visible, but somewhat unobtrusive. The 2009 data will be laid on top of it, using the same colors and markers as the previous year. Hopefully, it’s not too cluttered and difficult to read.


As far as sales and listings are concerned, the first week of 2009 couldn’t have been any less exciting. The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors (SRAR) was closed Wednesday through Friday so Realtors were only able to report sales on Monday and Tuesday. There were a total of 16 residential sales reported including 10 single-family homes, 3 condominiums, 2 duplexes and one residential care facility. The duplexes and the care home managed to deliver the residential category from its lowest sales week in at least a year, but alas, condo and house sales managed to decline 2 units from the previous week to settle at just 13 units and reaching our lowest point on the graph in 53 weeks.


New listings of condos and houses perked up some as 20 new listings made their way to market, up 5 units from the week before. Included amongst them were 18 single-family homes and 2 condominiums. Total active Saskatoon real estate listings (residential) tumbled hard for the third straight month as a rash of month end expired listings exited the MLS system. Currently, there are a total of 1,121 residential properties for sale (down from 1,292 last week) including 671 houses and 378 condos. Single-family home listings peaked at 1,059 in August, while condos found their high point at the close of October when 530 units were offered for sale on the Saskatoon MLS. Here's the big question on every agent’s mind? Will all of these expired listings resurface for another go at the market this spring?


Let’s get to prices. You’ll recall that last week the average selling price fell through the floor reaching its lowest level for the 2008 calendar year at just $214,550. Well, this week it roared back to more typical levels reaching $265,492, but down about $4,000 from the number recorded for the first week of 2008. The six-week average edged down slightly falling from $270,782 last week to finish at $269,489, or about $12,000 higher than the same week last year. The four-week median lost $1,000 from the previous week and was down an equal amount as compared to the same week in 2008.


The average underbid picked up some steam again rising to $15,625 from $12,525 the week before. The “up to $5,000” range shrunk significantly and represented just 7% of recorded sales, compared to 33% the week before while the $5,001-10,000 underbid range ballooned from just 13% to 31% of sales. The $10,001-15,000 range shrunk to 15% from 20% the week before. The deals that were struck with a discount greater than $15,000 increased significantly from 34% to 47%. I am patiently waiting for SRAR to report their December sales stats and hope to have those numbers posted early in the week. As always, our “Closer Look” will follow and provide a breakdown of how houses and condos did compared to the entire residential category. Having taken a preliminary look at the numbers, these upcoming monthly reports promise to be more interesting than most. Try to find your way back here once or twice during the next week for a full report.


I want to say thank you again for reading and participating here. 2008 brought the TeamFisher.com domain over 242,000 unique user sessions, up from about 170,000 in 2007. You, and others who read here viewed over 1,000,000 pages through the course of the year. We’re certainly no Google, but your visits helped push us to the number 9 position on Point2’s “Performance Index” at the close of 2008. The Point2 Performance Index measures the overall effectiveness of each member’s internet marketing effort giving weight to factors like visits, page views, presentation of listings and responsiveness to inquiries. There are currently over 200,000 real estate websites in the Point2 network, so we’re feeling pretty good about being in the top ten. Thank you!


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 Vidorra

Read
The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) IDX Reciprocity listings are displayed in accordance with SRA's MLS® Data Access Agreement and are copyright of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA).
The above information is from sources deemed reliable but should not be relied upon without independent verification. The information presented here is for general interest only, no guarantees apply.
Trademarks are owned and controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Used under license.
MLS® System data of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) displayed on this site is refreshed every 2 hours.