The Home Renovation Tax Credit is a federal non-refundable tax credit based on eligible expenses for improvements to your house, condominium, or cottage. The 15% tax credit applies to eligible expenses that exceed $1,000, but not more than $10,000. For instance, if you installed new windows at a cost of $5,000 and new shingles at a cost of $5,000 your tax credit is calculated as follows. ($10,000 - $1,000) x 15% = $1,350 tax credit.

You must get your contracts in writing, keep your receipts and claim the credit on your 2009 tax return.

Eligible expenses must be of an enduring nature and integral to your property.

Examples of eligible expenses

Renovation of a bathroom, basement, or kitchen
New windows, doors, or flooring
Building an addition, garage, deck, shed or fence
A new furnace, fireplace, water softener, or water heater
A new driveway, or a new surface on an existing driveway
Re-shingling a roof, or painting a house
Landscaping projects like new sod, perennial shrubs and flowers, trees, etc.
Swimming pools (permanent – in-ground and above ground)
Fixtures – blinds, shades, shutters, awnings, lights, fans, etc.
Associated renovation costs such as permits, professional services, equipment rentals, etc.

Examples of non-eligible expenses

Improvements made to rental units even if located with your primary residence
Furniture, appliances, tools
Audio and visual electronics
Routine repairs, maintenance and cleaning costs
Financing costs

For more information on the Home Renovation Tax Credit click here.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

City administrators recommended that council agree to the higher price to avoid the costs of litigation, as well as the time that could be lost to such an action.

Apparently the Avenue P house was the last holdout on land that has been set aside for an affordable housing project as part of the Pleasant Hillrevitalization project.

Some things are worth paying for.

Star Phoenix story here.
Pleasant Hill Revitalization Project Blog here.
Pleasant Hill Local Area Plan here.

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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

They contend that a number of illegal suites are contributing to a problem caused by the large number of single-family homes that were built in the area just a few years ago. Often, cars line both sides of the street creating dangerous conditions in an area with a high population of children and a park that attracts them in droves.

Residents are calling for speed bumps, crosswalks, a reduction in the speed limit, an elimination of parking in front of the playground, and a clamp down on illegal suites.

Ward 1 councillor Darren Hill will present his ideas on solving the problem to council this evening.

See the Star Phoenix story here.

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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Update: At the September 28 council meeting Ms. Elizabeth Cooney was heard and "expressed concerns regarding the speed of traffic and parking issue in the Rutherfor infill area and provided suggestions on how to help alleviate traffic congestion." It was moved by councillor Hill, and seconded by Councillor Paulsen that the matter "be referred to Administration," and that motion was carried.

Meeting minutes can be found here.

Over the past sixty days I have visited every school in Saskatoon, and I’ve walked every single park in every neighbourhood of our great community. It has been an excellent way to re-connect with the city that I grew up in, and that I love, but that was really a side benefit unrelated to my original reason for going. I went to take pictures. I went to capture these areas in images, hoping that they might be helpful to someone trying to choose a neighbourhood from afar in a city that they’re largely unfamiliar with.

Phase two of this project is a pretty major overhaul of our “Saskatoon neighbourhoods” pagesto include some of the best information available on every area of the city as well as a decent photo tour that gives the visitor a bit of a feel for the area. We’ve put a good dent in the work on most of the area pages, and a number of them are already complete. Over the next sixty days we will finish them all.

Our City Park pageprovides a pretty good idea of what we’re ultimately after for each Saskatoon neighbourhood if you’re interested in having a look.

Generally, I’m pretty happy with the way these are turning out but I can’t help think about how much better they could be with a little help from you. I can write about my impressions of an area, and even share some photos that provide a limited view of the neighbourhood, but nothing could be as helpful to a newcomer as the comments of someone who has lived in and experienced an area firsthand.

May I call on those of you who live in Saskatoon to share some of your thoughts on the neighbourhood that you live in? You can do that in the comments section of the page for your area. You’ll find your area on a list here. Feel free to tell us what you love about your neighbourhood, and don’t be shy about sharing something that you wish was different. No neighbourhood is perfect and all of your impressions have the potential to be helpful to someone.

Thank you for helping me with this project.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Housing affordability improved in Canada for the fifth consecutive quarter during the second quarter...At the national level, affordability has now been restored to pre-housing boom levels (that is, those prevailing in late 2005-early 2006)... However, this restorative phase of the affordability cycle is likely running out of steam. The two major contributors to the significant improvement during the past year or so — the decline in mortgage rates and the drift down in prices — appear to have reached turning points.

Homeownership continued to become more accessible in Saskatchewan in the second quarter with RBC’s affordability measures falling between 0.4 and 1.4 percentage points. The measures have retreated considerably since their peaks early last year. However, they are still some distance above long-term averages, although these averages might have been depressed by previously unfavourable migration flows that have since been reversed. Certainly, the current levels of affordability do not appear to have been an obstacle to buyers taking the plunge in recent months. Sales of existing homes in the province have rebounded smartly, up by more than 50% since their low in March. If sustained, this will eventually heat up property prices, which are still trending modestly, lower.

This graph shows the recent affordability trend for the four Saskatoon housing types that RBC tracks and reports on, in comparison to the historical norm for the area. The figures shown on the graph represent the “proportion of median pre-tax household income required to service the cost of mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes and utilities” on the various housing types. So, of course, the lower the figure, the more affordable the homes are.

Read the full RBC report here.

Thanks for the heads up to my friend Larry Yatkowsky who runs Yatter Matterswhere he blogs about the Vancouver real estate market.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

You’ll be reminded that it’s Realtor® Community Safety Week by a series of safety tips airing on C95FM and Rock102. I’ve also noticed some service announcements in the Star Phoenix. The highlight event for the week is a Neighbourhood Safety Fair that happens on Saturday, September 12 from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. It will be held at Sonnenschein Way, just south of the Farmer’s Market. If you can find the time, it’s probably worth attending. Apparently, there will be children’s activities and prizes, self-defense demonstrations, home safety products and lots of good safety related information.

Whether or not you can attend you should check out a free publication that’s being offered by the City of Saskatoon. It’s called “Safe at Home” and it contains about a dozen pages of great tips for staying safe in your community and in your home. Please read it and be safe, this week and every other.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Saskatoon single-family home sales took a small dip in August falling to 268 units, down from 294 in July, but up significantly compared to the 150 properties that traded in August of 2008. The number of houses for sale within the city of Saskatoon also slid falling by ninety units compared to last month to finish August at six hundred and fifty-one, down nearly forty percent from the same month last year.

The average sale price of a house fell from $315,768 in July to $306,440 in August, which was just a few hundred dollars higher than it was in August of 2008. The median price took a similar slide falling to $290,250 from $299,000 the month before and finishing just $750 behind the median for last August. Following seven consecutive months of gains which moved the three-month average nearly twenty thousand dollars higher, this measure came in about $1400 lower on a month-over-month basis but lagged behind last year’s number by nearly sixteen grand.

Meanwhile, the average price per square foot for a Saskatoon house increased, climbing six dollars from last month to two hundred and fifty-two dollars, seventeen dollars less than the average for last August.

The number of Saskatoon condos that are currently for sale continued to fall, though far slower than the single-family home inventory has adjusted. At month end, three hundred and eighty-one condos showed an “active” status on the Saskatoon MLS system, down just twelve properties from July, but well off of the four hundred and ninety-nine condos available at this time last year. Unit sales showed some strength falling just seventeen units from July to finish at one hundred and twelve sales, nearly eighty-percent up on the same month in 2008 when just sixty-two Saskatoon condos sold.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon condominium rose for the third consecutive month, increasing nearly eleven thousand dollars from the month before to $231,042 and finishing up close to five thousand dollars compared to August 2008. The median took an even stronger jump increasing nearly fifteen thousand dollars to $224,950, up from $209,000 last year. The three-month average selling price finally moved ahead ending a year of declines and finishing at $221,965, sixteen thousand dollars lower than it was at this time last year. Condo prices were skewed higher by twenty-two sales above the $300,000 mark, including two that topped a half million dollars.

The average cost per square foot for a Saskatoon condo also made some gains climbing eight dollars from its near two-year low of $211 to $219, twenty-two dollars lower than it was in August of last year.

Remember, averages and cost per square foot numbers can provide some useful insights into pricing trends but they’re not as useful when engaging in an actual transaction. If you’re buying or selling you should be seeking current information on active listings and recent sales, which are most comparable to your property in terms of location, size, features and amenities.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Saskatoon REALTORS® assisted 393 home buyers to fulfill their dream of home ownership in the month of August, up 76% from August 2008 when 223 homes were sold, and on par with August 2007 when 397 homes were sold. Year to date, 2697 homes have sold, also on par with 2008.

The average selling price stabilized at $281,871 in the month of August and was on par with 2008 when the average selling price was $279,722. Year to date the average selling price is $278,129, down 4% from 2008 when the average year to date sales figure was $288,924.

Inventory levels continued to stabilize in the month of August. Home buyers had 1148 homes to select from at the end of August, down 32% from August 2008 when 1676 homes were on the market. That number is also down from the 1291 homes available last month and down significantly from our record high inventory number of 1748 homes for sale in September 2008. REALTORS® listed 517 homes in August, down 36% from 2008 when 805 homes were listed.

Home sales in areas surrounding the city were also very active in the month of August with 96 properties sold, up 22% from 2008 when 79 homes were sold and on par with 2007 when consumers purchased 93 homes. The average price remained steady in these areas at $270,488, up 9% from 2008 when the average selling price was $248,556.

All indicators point to similar activity in the residential home sales market as we continue into fall. Consumer confidence remains strong; the job market is steady and interest rates are low, all necessary components for an active market. Inventory is expected to decline during the next few months furthering market stability.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra