Saskatoon home sales spiked higher this week making a rare appearance above the 100-unit mark for the first time since early September of last year. Local agents reported a whopping 113 single-family home and condominium sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service® for a weekly gain of 48 homes, well up from the 71 properties that traded during the same week last spring.

Meanwhile, new listing numbers slipped by 15 when compared against the previous weekto 115 homes, down about 20 from the numbers registered during the same period a year ago.

The total inventory of residential properties that are currently offered for sale on Saskatoon’s multiple listing service® took an unusual turn for the season we’re in and slipped by 38 units compared against the close of the previous week to finish at just 1031, about 185 units lower than levels seen a year ago, even breaking below 2009’s weaker levels for the first time. Today, we see just 609 single-family homes and 336 condominiums showing the active status. Looking back a year ago, those numbers stood at 693 and 446, respectively. Single-family home inventory is down 12 percent on a year-over-year basis while condo inventory has slipped lower by 25 percent.

Weekly price measures can be misleading, when examined by themselves. A large number of sales at either the upper end, or the lower end of the market can skew them severely. That certainly happened this week as the average sale price of a Saskatoon home reached the highest level that I can ever recall seeing at $364,183. Higher end buyers were on the move as the weekly median grew by more than $60,000 from the previous week to $332,500. There were 14 sales above the $500,000 mark this week and a pretty good handful that broke $400K. The six-week average price moved higher by thirteen thousand dollars on a weekly basis reaching $331,206 for an annual gain of more than thirty thousand dollars. The four-week median price pushed higher by twelve thousand dollars to $312K to finish ahead of last year’s number by twenty thousand dollars.

For the most part, buyers found a seller willing to negotiate, at least a bit, as 91 of 113-recorded sales closed at a price that was below the asking price. The average discount registered at $9,624. Five lucky sellers got a bit more than they had asked for finishing their deal up by $4,730. An additional 17 Saskatoon home buyers stepped up and delivered a full price offer on the home that they ended up purchasing.

Other notable Saskatoon real estate activity this week included 39 cancelled or withdrawn listings, just 16 expired listings, and 41 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Some positives in budget for housing market - Star Phoenix
Canada’s economic growth slows - Star Phoenix
City moves Kensington plan forward - Star Phoenix
Rates are rising! Oh wait, scratch that – Globe and Mail
Banks can absorb a hit to the housing market – Financial Post
Maybe we aren’t too indebted – Financial Post
Ottawa to tighten CMHC oversight – Financial Post
More Canadians chipping away at their debt - Star Phoenix
Home affordability uncertain for many with small rate hike – Globe and Mail
Saskatoon’s economy ‘red hot’ – Star Phoenix
Home prices keep climbing, though gains are slowing – Financial Post
Saskatoon’s growth to lead nation: Conference Board - Star Phoenix
Mortgage rates in Canada have nowhere to go but up – Financial Post
Regina led nation with 6.1% GDP growth in 2011 – Leader Post
Extra costs of buying a house can surprise first-timers - Star Phoenix
Province poised for growth - Star Phoenix
Moody’s puts odds on soft landing for Canadian housing – Financial Post
Echoes of the boom: European immigration is back – Star Phoenix
Supportive factors in place for Canadian housing in 2012: TDEconomics

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

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

Like Saskatoon real estate prices lately, home sale numbers are showing some pretty strong ups and downs over the past several weeks. This week was a down. The number of houses and condos reported as sold to the MLS® system slipped 17 units compared against the previous week to just 65 homes and fell short of the number of sales reported during the same week a year agoby 19 properties. Still, a strong start to the year and a few very robust sales weeks put total units sold so far this year ahead of last year by a little more than eight percent.

Meanwhile, new listingsare showing an increase of just two percent compared to last year having grown to 1440 from 1408. This week, Saskatoon real estate agents brought 130 houses and condominiums to the multiple listing service®, up two from the previous week and ahead of the same week in 2011 by 19 homes.

The total number of residential properties offered for sale on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® continued to make some gains, but at a slower pace than might be considered typical for this time of year. On a weekly basis, the numbers rose by just 17 to close the week at 1069, down more than 100 units from levels seen at the same time last year when 1173 properties were for sale. At present, there are 636 single-family homes and 349 condominiums showing an active status on the system. Last year at this time, those categories stood at 669 and 435 respectively.

In theory, stronger demand and softer supply is shifting the market to favour sellers. That’s bringing about a bit of hype and excitement amongst real estate agents and prospective buyers and sellers, but at this point, it seems to be more hype than substance. That said, there’s no denying that conditions have gotten tighter for buyers. Multiple offer scenarios are becoming a bit more commonplace. Agents scheduling showings are often finding many of the homes that they’d like to show are already under contract. Prices are clearly higher than they were a year ago, but not much higher than they were through the back half of last year. There isn’t a lot of over the top bidding wars like some markets have been reporting, but if you’re shopping for a home in the $250,000 - $350,000 range there’s a good chance that you’re running up against other buyers that might take a crack at it as well. Still, the largest majority of Saskatoon homes sold are still trading at, or below the asking price. It will be interesting to see what happens in the weeks ahead of us.

A strong showing of entry level buyers pushed the average sale price of a Saskatoon home sharply lower this week to make a somewhat rare appearance below the $300K mark, at $288,165. That’s the lowest weekly average price that we’ve seen since the first week of April, last year. The weekly median price followed along and slipped to $271,000. The six-week average price held its ground losing just five hundred dollars on a weekly basis to finish the week at $318,077 for an annual gain of about twenty-two thousand dollars. The four-week median slid lower by sixteen thousand from last week to close the week at an even $300K for year-over-year growth of roughly $15,000.

As I mentioned earlier, overbid activity wasn’t exceptionally strong, even though changing conditions in the market seem to favour sellers. Lately, we’ve been counting some overbids as “at list” sales, when it’s clear that something different has occurred with the listing (a new home that has been on the market 80 days sells for $40,000 over list because the final contract included basement development, which had never been factored into the list price). Taking those types of situations into account, just two Saskatoon home sellers closed a deal for more than their asking price with an average overbid of $12,200. Another 13 buyers stepped up to write a full list price offer while 50 of this week’s 65 sellers settled for a firm contract that was below their asking price by an average of $8,400.

Other notable Saskatoon MLS® real estate activity this week included 27 cancelled or withdrawn listings, just 12 expired listings, and 41 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Housing to stay moderately overvalued – Globe and Mail
Is turning a profit as a landlord realistic? - Star Phoenix
Home buyers: Beware market sucker punch – Globe and Mail
Low mortgage rates skew sense of affordability – Financial Post
Skyrocketing house prices bound to come down: BMO head says – Globe and Mail
Are Canadian house prices dangerously overvalued – Globe and Mail
Tax break for rental construction unveiled – CTV News
New take on household debt: Families have large cushion – Globe and Mail
Budget 2012: Business gives enthusiastic reception to apartment plan – Leader Post Canadian housing market still hot – Financial Post
Flaherty wraps banks on lending stance – CBC News Remax expects heated sales this spring – CTV News
Government in no rush to tighten mortgage rules – Canadian Real Estate Magazine
Canada’s mortgage body moves to slow booming housing market – Globe and Mail
Banks tighten condo lending amid bubble fears – Financial Post
Home price growth slows in Canada – Globe and Mail
Household debt fears grow as rates appear set to rise – Financial Post
Home prices rise in February but pace slows– Globe and Mail

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

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

As the weather began to take a serious turn for the better, Saskatoon real estate sales and new listings both heated up this week. Local agents reported a total of 82 sales of single-family homes and condominiums to the MLS® system for a weekly gain of 25 units, up 12 from the same week a year ago. New listings in the same categories came in at 128, up 11 from the previous week, and ahead of new listings for the same period last year by 12.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Following a bit of a pre-spring stall, the total inventory of Saskatoon homes in the residential category of the multiple listing service® pushed higher for the second week in a row. We closed the week with a total of 1052 listings for a weekly gain of 28 and year-over-year growth of 76 homes. The total number of single-family homes available for purchase on the system grew by 14 this week to 613 for an annual decline of about 50 houses. Meanwhile, total Saskatoon condominiums listed for sale inched ahead with the database growing by just five from last week to 342, about 88 fewer units than were available at the same time last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Over the course of the week, 27 Saskatoon home sellers pulled their listing from the system, most hoping to develop a new strategy for another go at the market. An additional 41 listings saw a price adjustment. Meanwhile, 12 MLS® listings came to the end of their term and expired without a sale.

Prices remained pretty stable compared with the previous week. The weekly median sale price was the only measure that showed much change as it slipped nineteen thousand dollars from last week to $306,000. The average sale price of a Saskatoon home inched higher by just a little more than a hundred dollars to $323,573. The six-week average slipped by about seven hundred dollars from the previous week to $318,517 and picked up an annual gain of more than 24K. The four-week median grew by just one thousand dollars from last week to $315,900 but managed to finish higher than it did the same week last year by nearly thirty thousand dollars.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The number of Saskatoon home sellers who managed to secure an offer for more than their asking price slipped lower again to just six, with a pretty strong average overbid approaching 10K. Another eight sellers accepted a full price offer while 68 of 82 Saskatoon home sales required a little give and take to close a deal. Those sales came in below the asking price by an average of $9,006 this week.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

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

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

Coming off of the strongest sales week this year, Saskatoon real estate sales plunged to levels more typical of winter months as local agents brought just 57 firm sales of detached houses and condominiums to the MLS® system this week for a weekly decline of nearly 40 units. Sales for the week closed behind the same week a year agoby ten properties.

New listings also took a dive with just 117 new house and condo listings being added to the Saskatoon multiple listings service® this week, down from 167 last weekand below the numbers seen during the same period of 2011 when 125 properties were offered for sale.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The inventory of active residential listings on the Saskatoon MLS® system finally saw a notable increase after stalling out for three consecutive weeks. At the close of this week’s activity, 1024 residential properties showed an active status on the system. That’s up 34 properties from the close of the previous week but still substantially lower than it was at the same date in 2011 when 1139 homes were available to prospective buyers. The annual decline is most significant in the condominium category, which has slipped to just 337 homes, down from 431 at the same time a year ago. Single-family inventory is off by 44 from levels seen a year ago to 599.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

This past week, there were 30 property listings that were cancelled or withdrawn for the system. Another 43 Saskatoon home sellers adjusted their asking price while nine others came to the end of the term of their listing and saw it expire without a sale.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home edged higher again, picking up a little more than nine thousand dollars compared to last week to finish at $323,465. The median sale price finished up, about as much as the average as it finished the week at $325,000. The six-week average price inched up just a few hundred dollars this week to $319,178 for an annual gain of about 24K, while the four-week median slipped lower on a weekly basis to $314,900 finishing higher than it did a year ago by $22,400.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Overbid sales lost some luster falling from 12 last week to just seven this week. The average overbid remained pretty high at almost $16,000. Another five sellers got their full asking price while 45 of this week’s 57 sales closed below the asking price by an average of $8,298.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

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

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