Calgary, Montreal and Victoria also showed modest affordability improvements during 2011 while Halifax, Ottawa, Regina, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg all became less affordable.

Vancouver once again reined for the largest income to price gap in Canada. In that area it now takes 10.6 times median income to purchase a home priced at the median, up from 9.5 times just a year ago.

Click image for a larger view.

See the entire Demographia survey for 2012 and past reports for 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.

*The median defines the centre point where half of all values are above and half are below that point. For instance, if the median income for an area were $50,000 then half off all income earners would earn more than that and half would earn less. In the case of home values, it’s the point at which half of all sales occur above the number, and half occur below.

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

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Iris says of Brevoort Park, "Just one block down and you are at the park and the schools are at either end of the park. Just a couple blocks walking distance you’re at Walter Murray or Holy Cross (high schools), so it’s very handy. It’s very comfortable and convenient for walking. Anything and everything you want to do..."

Read the entire article here.

See our neighbourhood page for Brevoort Park.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

The report states that existing zoning is appropriate for the proposed development which will meet the city’s long-term plans to encourage a mix of housing types in all neighbourhoods. Currently, single-family homes are the only type of housing available in the Montgomery area. Further, the report explains that the development will contribute to a “more compact and efficient urban form and make effective use of existing community infrastructure,” an important consideration given the rapid population growth that Saskatoon is experiencing.

Once the approval process has been completed, five acres of the 18-acre parcel of the land owned by North Ridge Developmentswill become home to a 192 unit apartment complex. The remaining 13 acres will likely be developed as demand dictates. The current plan calls for up to 750 housing units when complete.

The project met resistance from the area’s community associationwho feel that the development is “out of step with the character of adjacent Montgomery Place,” according to a story in the Star Phoenix. Many residents of the historic area that was developed in honour of Second World War veterans feel that the neighbourhood has been “under siege” as the area around them changes to accommodate and expanded landfill, a new bus barn and city yards site, and the extension of Circle Drive South.

In one seemingly over-the-top expression of concern, Councilor Pat Lorje, speaking about Second World War veterans, declared the move as an end to “the recognition of their sacrifice.”

I’m going to go ahead and make two bold predictions. Saskatoon will continue to honour the sacrifice of our Second World Wars veterans, and Montgomery Place will maintain its unique charm for years to come in spite of this development. It’s a beautiful area now and so it will remain.

Learn more about beautiful Montgomery Place. Read: Montgomery development can proceed; Lorje says decision ‘dishonours’ veterans. Read also: Montgomery plan approved.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

As a window, it does everything that you might expect, allowing light into the home and keeping the weather out. At it’s core, it’s so much more. The transparent touchscreen is home base for the display of digital media and widgets including weather, twitter, web browsing, and so on.

At the right price, it’s got great potential as the family media centre where a large screen television might be difficult to incorporate into the room.

The video that I initially saw said that Samsung intends to enter a mass production stage in the next couple of months. A post on Engadget says it’s still in the concept stage. In any case, check it out.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

SASKATOON, January 12, 2012 – The Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today showed slight year-over-year price increases for all three housing types surveyed in Saskatoon.

Detached bungalows posted a modest gain of 0.9 per cent, selling for a fourth quarter average of $334,250, over the same quarter in 2010. Standard two-storey homes saw a 2.6 percent increase over the same quarter last year, selling for an average of $368,750. Standard condominiums sold for an average price of $232,333 – a 3.3 per cent year-over-year increase.

“Migration to the area continues to sustain Saskatoon’s balanced market,” says Norm Fisher, Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate. “In the fourth quarter we also saw a demographic shift. Although we see a range of buyers, typically the market is dominated by first-time buyers. In the fourth quarter, more established buyers took advantage of low interest rates to move-up from their previous homes.”

Fisher also noted that pockets of Saskatoon still had an ample supply of inventory and this led to the balanced conditions seen in the fourth quarter.

Nationally, despite calls in some quarters for Canadian house prices to soften in 2011, the market proved resilient as demand created by low interest rates and a relatively stable national economy created upward pricing pressure for all housing types surveyed. Further, recent high profile reports forecasting significant house price declines in 2012 are not supportable. In the fourth quarter, standard two-storey homes rose 4.2 per cent year-over-year to $375,427, while detached bungalows increased 6.1 per cent to $344,392. Average prices for standard condominiums increased 3.6 per cent to $234,680.

“In the recovery period following the 2008-2009 recession, I found myself repeatedly speaking of ‘irrational exuberance’ in the Canadian housing market,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “Expectations were too high and the pace of expansion unsustainable. With this report, I find myself in exactly the opposite position. Widespread calls for a major real estate correction in 2012 simply can’t be justified. The industry has significant momentum entering the year, and is buoyed by the stimulative effect of very low interest rates; we expect the market to continue to expand – albeit at a slower pace.”

Royal LePage expects average price growth to continue through 2012 and predicts national average prices to increase by 2.8 per cent by the end of the year.

Area resident, Jill Smith tells Charles, "The cool thing about Nutuna is there is such a wide variety of people that live there. You have students and rich doctors and lawyers — just a whole scope of all different kinds of people. There are people that don’t live there but flock to the area because it’s so beautiful. People feel safe there. They are people jogging around at all times, at 11 o’clock at night because people feel safe."

Read the entire article here.

See our neighbourhood page for Nutana here.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

There seems to be a growing consensus that Saskatchewan is poised for growth and several economists expect our province to lead in 2012. Is economic growth a good thing?

Here's an interesting perspective.

Construction is underway on the new Affinity Credit Union offices which will be located at 710 Duke Street in Saskatoon’s City Park. The construction plan, managed by Meridian Development will make use of the existing 49,000 square foot building on the site. Some additional space is being added at the North end of the building to accommodate what appears to be the main entrance to the offices.