The Saskatoon real estate market continued to push ahead with sales finishing up and new listings closing down on a year-over-year basis. Local agents reported 64 firm sales of houses and condos to the multiple listing service®, an increase of 12 compared against last week, to finish eight units ahead of the same week last year. New listings moved in the opposite direction falling by eight units from the previous week to close the week sixteen properties behind the number of new home listings for the same week in 2011.

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The total inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category failed to gain much traction over the past seven days. The week closed with a total of 924 properties, up just six from the previous week’s close and 42 units below the levels seen a year ago. The inventory of both single-family homes and condominiums also remained fairly steady on a weekly basis at 537 and 307 respectively. Last year at this time, buyers also had 537 single-family homes to choose from. The condo category continues to loose ground on last year’s numbers. At the same point in 2011 there were 387 Saskatoon condos offered for sale on the MLS®.

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Cancelled and withdrawn listings slid lower to just 19. An additional 33 price adjustments were recorded on the system and 11 listings came to the end of their term and expired without a sale.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home gained some ground climbing almost $13,000 from last week to $318,251 while the median sale price moved up by more than $20K. The six-week average slipped a little less than one hundred dollars to $318,149 to claim an annual gain approaching fourteen thousand dollars. The four-week median price managed to slip as it lost about six thousand dollars from last week to finish at $303,450 for an annual gain of about nine thousand dollars.

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Overbid sales were pretty soft at just two, but those that did sell for more than list price went over big. Apparently, one of the two homes attracted fourteen offers and eventually sold for a $55,000 premium, more than twenty percent above the list price. This is something we haven’t seen much of for a few years and it shouldn’t likely be taken as a sign of things to come this spring. In fact, at the close of January, inventory, when analyzed using the supply/demand formula showed a substantial increase of close to a month’s supply of homes. This lucky seller had east side home priced around $250,000 that was ready for some upgrades so there’s no surprise that it would have been a popular choice for first-time buyers, and perhaps property flippers. Another five property owners closed a deal for all they were asking while 57 0f 64 firm sales fell short of the asking price by an average of $8,318.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra