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Saskatoon real estate week in review: May 23-27, 2011
The final week of May proved to be a bit of a bust, at least when compared against the first three. Saskatoon real estate agents reported just seventy house and condo sales to the local MLS®, down twenty-eight units from the previous week and falling short of last year’s numbers by three. Still, last week’s sales were strong enough to put month-to-date numbers even with unit sales for all of May 2010. With two days left to report in this calendar month, it looks like the month will finish ahead of last year by ten to fifteen percent.


New listings also slid fairly significantly as just 114 house and condo listings hit the MLS®, declining forty-three from last week to finish just ahead of the same week last year when 109 properties were offered up for sale.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The total inventory of MLS® listings in the residential category grew again picking up twenty-five units to reach 1405, and topping last year’s inventory by just four properties. Today, I see 823 single-family homes and 509 condos listed for sale on the multiple listing service®, almost identical to last year’s number when there were 822 and 503 respectively.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Cancelled and withdrawn listings were about even with the previous week at thirty-nine. Just over half of those made a return appearance as a new listing the same day they were removed. Most of them returned with a lower asking price. An additional forty-nine sellers used a standard price adjustment to sweeten their offering in hopes of closing a deal before the spring rush starts to loose its steam.


An unusually strong burst of activity in lower priced homes drove the weekly median price lower by nearly thirty-five thousand dollars to $276,500.  The average selling price of a Saskatoon home moved in the same direction dropping twenty thousand dollars to $303,679. The longer-term measures held pretty firm.  The six-week average price actually moved higher on a week-over-week basis, gaining just a couple of hundred dollars to finish at $318,995 roughly twenty-three thousand dollars higher than it was at this time last year. The four-week median was down just nine hundred dollars from the week before to $306,000 for a year-over-year gain of twenty-one thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Overbid activity remained weak with just two sellers closing a deal above their asking price, by an average of just $2,600. Another four got their full asking price while sixty-four of seventy firm transactions required a sharper pencil to close the deal. The average dollar discount on those homes that sold below list price was $8,993 or about three percent of the price.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings from all real estate brands with the most detail and information available anywhere. Check it out 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.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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CREAeconomist Gregory Klump reports on MLS® sales and listings for the Canadian real estate market for April, 2011.



More from CREA's release.


The number of newly listed homes edged up 1.3 per cent in April from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, but remained well below levels in January and February, when impending changes to mortgage regulations were announced.


With fewer sales and an increase in newly listed homes, the national housing market moved further into balanced territory in April. The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 52.5 per cent in April, down from 55.7 in March.


More than two-thirds of local markets in Canada were balanced in April. Almost half of the remainder could be classified as sellers’ markets based on a ratio of sales to new listings above 60 per cent.


The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. The seasonally adjusted number of months of inventory stood at six months at the end of April on a national basis, up from 5.7 months in the previous month.


The national average price for homes sold in April 2011 was $372,544, up eight per cent from the same month last year. April marked the third consecutive month in which the national average price was up by eight per cent from year-ago levels.


The national average price has been skewed in recent months due to surging multi-million dollar property sales in selected areas of Greater Vancouver. Demand for these properties moderated in April from the previous month. A reduction in this source of upward skewing for the national average price was offset by fewer sales of lower priced properties.


Read the full release 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.


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

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: May 16-20, 2011
Happy May long weekend!


Saskatoon home sales continued to show year-over-year gains for the month as the third week of May came to a close. A total of ninety-eight single-family home and condominium sales firmed up this week for a weekly gain of fourteen units and an annual uptick of sixteen.


Following an unseasonably slow week for new real estate listings, activity spiked higher as 157 houses and condos were added the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, up thirty-eight properties from last week to match volume from the same week last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The total inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category saw its greatest gain in a month climbing by forty units from last week to 1380 properties. At the same time, this number represents the smallest year-over-year gain that we’ve seen in almost a year. Last year, at this time, there were 1376 residential properties showing an active status on the Saskatoon MLS® system, just four fewer than there are this year.


Today, there are 804 single-family homes and 502 condos available to prospective buyers. Those totals are up from 786 and 486 respectively, last week. Single-family home inventory is now down on a year-over-year basis, by just sixteen properties, while condo listings remain higher than the previous year by twelve.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Cancelled and withdrawn listings edged up over last week as forty-one sellers removed their property from the MLS®. Twenty-nine of those homes returned on the same day as a new listing. Another eighty listings saw a change to the pricing strategy with most moving lower.


Following a brief retreat last week, the median selling price of a Saskatoon home edged back up to reclaim more than fifty percent of last week’s loss, closing at $308,932. The weekly average gained even more, closing almost ten thousand dollars higher than it did the previous week at $323,669. The six-week average price finished the week at $318,724 for a weekly gain of nearly four thousand dollars and a year-over-year gain of roughly twenty thousand dollars. The four-week median price actually edged lower, falling about two thousand dollars from last week to $306,900 for an annual gain of about 18K.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Eighty-six of ninety-eight sales were closed at a price that was roughly 3.3 percent ($10,667) below the seller’s asking price. Three sellers closed a deal for more than they were asking, by an average of just $1,566. Another nine sellers found a buyer who was willing to conclude a deal for exactly what they were asking.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings from all real estate brands with the most detail and information available anywhere. Check it out 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.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: May 9-13, 2011
Saskatoon real estate sales had another reasonably strong week with a total of eighty-four firm house and condo sales being reported to the local MLS®, a drop of seven compared against last week’s numbers and off just one from the same period a year ago.


Following on the heels of a week that saw a huge spike in the number of new listings brought to the Saskatoon MLS® system, new listings took a downturn again falling forty-five units from the previous week to just one hundred and nineteen houses and condos. That’s thirty-four fewer listings than were offered up for sale during the same week of 2010.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The total inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category continued to climb, but at a very modest pace, as the number grew by just twelve to 1340 for a year-over-year gain of thirty-seven properties. Of course, the year-over-year gap has been narrowing fairly substantially each week for the past couple of months. Assuming that the pace of new listings over the next couple of weeks is similar to what we’ve experienced in the last four or five weeks, it appears that we will soon be looking at inventory numbers that are actually down from last year. At this point, we’re just six to seven weeks away from the tipping point when inventory usually starts to decline through the balance of the year, making it highly unlikely that we’ll hit anywhere close to record levels as some had been predicting months ago.


Today’s active listings show 786 single-family homes, a gain of twelve from last week for a year-over-year gain of just four units. Condo inventory actually slipped this week, falling by four properties to 486, up from 453 at this same point last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Cancelled and withdrawn listings remained steady with thirty-four Saskatoon home sellers pulling their listing from the system. Twenty-two of them apparently changed their minds and re-listed the same day, setting the days on the market clock back to zero, with most coming back at a new lower price. Another fifty-seven sellers opted for a price change.


The entry-level market saw some improvements this week pushing the weekly median price lower by roughly eleven thousand dollars to $301,500. The weekly average price followed, slipping about six thousand dollars to $314,231.  We saw less change in the longer-term averages, but they both moved in the same direction. The six-week average selling price slipped just over a thousand dollars from last week to $315,005, maintaining an annual gain of fifteen thousand dollars. The four-week median slid lower by thirty-five hundred dollars to finish the week at $309,000, for a year-over-year gain of twenty-four thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


This week brought some big gains in the percentage of deals that resulted in a bit of overbidding as nine Saskatoon home buyers agreed to close a deal at a price greater than the asking price. The average overbid also saw a large increase to $12,485.  Sixty-eight of this week’s eighty-four deals closed at a price that was below list with an average drop of $9,516 for a discount of roughly three percent.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings from all real estate brands with the most detail and information available anywhere. Check it out 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.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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An interesting story appeared in today’s Star Phoenix regarding poverty and the presence of social support agencies in the Riversdaleneighbourhood.


The overabundance of support agencies for poor and homeless people concentrated in Riversdale needs to be addressed in what the city councillor for the area is calling "solution by dilution."


"The simple fact is that the status quo is not working," Coun. Pat Lorje said in an interview. "We need to think about alternative models."


Many of the city's social supports for homeless people are concentrated in the area, trapping people in negative lifestyles, Lorje said. The result is the creation of a society unto itself, from which it is harder to pull people out because they are exposed to more intense levels of the forces that cause, and keep, people homeless and addicted to drugs and alcohol, Lorje said.


Read more here.


More on this at Jordon Cooper's blog.


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

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: May 2-6, 2011
It was another spring like week for Saskatoon real estate sales as conditions were fulfilled and removed on ninety-one home sales. Unit sales declined three from last week but finished higher than the same week last yearby eight.


After showing signs of softening over two consecutive weeks, new listings came to the market in greater numbers than they have for more than a full year. One hundred and sixty-four houses and condos were added to the inventory, up forty-six units from last week, and one more than we saw over the same period last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The fifty-five listings that expired without a sale kept the total inventory of MLS listings from expanding significantly, but the number grew by eighteen when compared against the close of last week and finished at 1,328. At this time in 2010, there were 1,254 active listings for buyers to choose from. Today’s totals, by category, show 774 single-family homes (houses) and 490 condominiums with houses up twenty-one and condo numbers declining by one on a week-over-week basis. Last year at this time, those categories stood at 722 and 444 respectively.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Cancelled and withdrawn listings spiked to thirty-two, a gain of ten compared to last week. Twenty-two of those same properties immediately returned as a new listing, most at a new price. Sixty-eight Saskatoon home sellers took the more obvious route of simply adjusting the price on their existing listings.


Just a touch more action in the entry-level market saw the weekly median price soften by just over five grand to $312,750 while the weekly average slid by twice that to $320,147.  The six-week average still managed to edge higher picking up about five thousand dollars to close the week at $316,112 for an annual gain of about sixteen thousand dollars. The four-week median took a smaller bump gaining thirty-five hundred dollars on the week to finish at $312,500. That’s well up from $286,000 four-week median at the same time in 2010.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Overbid activity remained weak as just four lucky sellers completed a deal at a price greater than asking, by $3,787 on average. Another nine sellers found a buyer willing to pony up with all that they were asking.  Seventy-nine of ninety-two firm deals required some give and take as sellers gave up an average of $9,158 at the negotiating table.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings from all real estate brands with the most detail and information available anywhere. Check it out 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.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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I had a phone call today from a client who is looking to purchase a house in Saskatoon.  Previous to my discussion with him, he had phoned his mortgage broker to ask how much he should have saved up for lawyer costs in terms of closing his transaction.  The banker had told him 1.5% was a good rule of thumb.  The client then phoned me to confirm this and subsequently give me a somewhat jokingly hard time for charging so much.  His purchase price is to be in the neighbourhood of $300,000.00, thus he thought ‘my fees’ of $4,500.00 were quite stiff.  I would gladly encourage clients to pay me $4,500.00 for my legal services, however that would be a tad steep.  Rather, banks will overestimate closing costs, and lawyer fees are only one part of these costs.  In addition to legal fees, there are Land Titles fees, a property tax adjustment, an interest adjustment, title insurance/surveyor certificate and other miscellaneous costs (tax searches, title searches, courier charges, etc) that a lawyer must collect for.  In a ‘worst case scenario,’ a purchaser could see closing costs of 1.5%.  Usually however, it is less than this.  Below is a rough idea as to what a purchaser of a residential property could expect to pay their lawyer in Saskatoon.


Typical legal fees on a residential purchase in Saskatoon will vary from lawyer to lawyer and vary based on the purchase price of the property.  There is no true maximum amount that a lawyer can charge their client on a residential real estate transaction; however, the recognized principal is such that it must be reasonable in light of the particular transaction.  ‘Reasonableness’ may seem vague, but it suggests the importance of a client phoning more than one lawyer to obtain a ‘quote’ for legal fees at the time they are looking to finalize their transaction.  Generally speaking, the more work involved in a real estate transaction, the more a client will pay to their lawyer.


Mike Derbowka


Cuelenaere Kendall Katzman & Watson
306-653-5000

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The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) released the residential real estate statistics for April, 2011today, accompanied by this release.


April’s residential real estate sale market softened somewhat with 343 homes selling compared to the 369 homes that sold in April of 2010. The greatest sales activity occurred in the $300,000 to $350,000 price range. The average number of days to sell in the month of April was 36, pointing to an active and steady market environment.



The average residential selling price in April was $315,866. This number is up 6% from April of 2011 when it was $298,481. The increase in the average selling price is indicative of strong sales activity in the mid to upper price ranges. Year-to-date, the average selling price date stands at $299,843 up 4% from last year at this time when it was $287,464.



Inventory levels continued to correct during the month of April. Home buyers had 1300 homes to select from at the end of the month, up slightly from April 2010 when 1258 homes were on the market. REALTORS® listed 634 homes in April. That number was down 19% from April 2010 when 784 properties were listed for sale. Year-to-date, 2403 properties have been listed for sale, on par with 2010 when 2,383 were placed on the market for sale by this time. Inventory levels remain steady providing home buyers with a reasonable number of homes to select from.



In areas surrounding Saskatoon home sale activity also softened slightly with 93 homes selling as compared to 113 homes selling in April of 2010. REALTORS® listed 296 properties in these areas in the month of April. That number is up 3% from April of 2010 when 288 properties were placed on the market for sale. The average number of days to sell in the areas around Saskatoon during the month of April was 65.


Optimism in Saskatoon’s economy remains high, which in turn is reflected in consumer’s willingness to invest both in residential and commercial real estate. Renters want to purchase, many current home owners are looking to move up and REALTORS® also report significant interest from clients wanting to move to Saskatoon from out of province.


An important factor of a strong housing market is the activity experienced in new home sales. Saskatoon’s new home market remains strong with steady city lot sales taking place. Interest rates are favorable to purchase that next home and job creation in the Saskatoon area remains steady. The forecast for the remainder of 2011 is for listing and sales numbers to continue to balance and for resale prices to move up slightly due to demand.


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

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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).
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