Over the past week, sales of detached houses and condominiums continued at a pace that’s typical for this time of the year. Saskatoon real estate agents reported 95 firm deals in those two housing categories to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®. Those numbers are down ten units from the previous week, but up 15 from sales recorded during the same week last year.

New listings of houses and condos came in at 150 properties for a week-over-week decline of just four homes but ended sharply higher than the 114 Saskatoon homes that were listed on the MLS® over the same period of time a year ago.

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Quickly approaching the time of year at which the total inventory of Saskatoon homes available on the multiple listing service® tends to peak for the year, MLS® inventory failed to gain much traction again. The numbers grew by just 11 units over the course of the week to close at 1214, about 15 percent short of levels seen at the same point in 2011. Assuming that this trend continues, it appears that the current inventory line on our chart will break the bottom line to reach its lowest level for June in five years time. Today there are 733 single-family detached homes and just 399 condominiums bearing an active status on the MLS® system. At this time last year, we had 823 houses and 509 condos available to home buyers.

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The average selling price of a Saskatoon home remained strong as it lost just one thousand dollars compared to the previous week and closed at $348,424. The weekly median took about a ten percent increase over sales recorded the previous week to reach $345,000. Meanwhile, the six-week average price trailed lower again, dropping just under one thousand dollars to $341,341 to claim a year-over-year gain of about twenty-two thousand dollars. The four-week median price also softened, slipping three thousand dollars over the week to $314,900 for annual growth of just under nine thousand dollars. This brings a continuation of the recent trend in which year-over-year gains to the four-week median price have been moderating. Through April, the annual gains to the four-week median were all $25K, or greater. Since the first week of May, the annual growth has been running at about half of that or less.

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Overbid sales accounted for less than ten percent of our sales last week with seven sellers receiving an above list price offer. On average, those sellers netted an additional $5,012 above what they were asking. Another 11 decided to jump when their prospective buyer offered to pay the full price while 77 of the 95 firm deals reported by Saskatoon real estate agents this week came in below the asking price by an average of $8,118.

Other notable Saskatoon real estate activity this week included 44 canceled and withdrawn listings, just 9 properties that expired from the system without a sale and 33 price changes.

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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

Residential unit sales continued to move along at a brisk pace last week as Saskatoon real estate agents reported a total of 105 firm deals to the local MLS®. That number brings an increase of nine sales compared against the previous week and growth of seven when compared against sales activity from the same week a year ago.

New listings added to the inventory of the Saskatoon multiple listing service® slid from the lofty levels recorded the previous week, falling by 30 properties to 154 to finish just slightly lower than the same week from the previous year when 157 Saskatoon homes were introduced to the system.

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Following a week that saw a needed bump to the total inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category, inventory growth sputtered but inched higher growing by just 13 units over the week to reach 1203 properties, down from 1380 at the close of the same week in 2011. Today’s totals show 726 single-family homes and 403 condominiums available to Saskatoon real estate buyers. At this time last year, those numbers stood at 804 and 502 respectively. This would be the first time that the inventory of available Saskatoon condos has been above the 400 mark this year but it’s still twenty percent lower than it was a year ago.

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The average selling price of a Saskatoon home moved higher once again reaching $349,414 this week. The median sale price for the week moved in the opposite direction slipping nearly eight thousand dollars to settle at $311,250. After five consecutive weeks of growth at record levels, the six-week average selling price of a Saskatoon home slipped lower falling a bit more than four thousand dollars from the previous week to $342,038 for an annual gain of about twenty-three thousand dollars. The four-week median price slipped a little more falling fifty-three hundred dollars from last week to $317,900 for annual growth of about eleven thousand dollars. Over the past few weeks, the annual gains to the four-week median have been moderating, coming in at about half the amount that we’d been seeing through most of the first few months of the year.

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The number of Saskatoon homes that traded for more than the asking price moved higher again reaching 11 this week. On average, the buyers involved in those deals paid the seller an extra $4,777 to walk away with the home they wanted. By contrast, 86 of the 105 closed transactions recorded on Saskatoon’s MLS system this week reported a price that was below the list price by an average of $10,823. Another eight home sellers made off with their full asking price.

Other notable Saskatoon real estate activity this week includes 39 canceled and withdrawn listings, just 9 properties that expired from the system without a sale and 45 price changes.

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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

CREA economist Gregory Klump reports on MLS® sales and listings for the Canadian real estate market for April, 2012.

Highlights from CREA's release

• Home sales up 0.8% from March to April.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 11.5% above levels in April 2011.
• The size of the year-over-year increase reflects a slowdown in sales last April following changes to mortgage rules which came into effect on March 18, 2011.
• The number of newly listed homes edged back 0.2% from March to April.
• While still well balanced, the combination of stable new listings and slightly higher sales activity resulted in a tighter national housing market.
• The national average home price edged up 0.9% on a year-over-year basis in April.

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

Saskatoon real estate sales continued to clip at a pretty good pace this past week with local agents reporting a total of 96 house and condo sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®. That number is down from the previous week by 13 properties and ahead of numbers produced during the same week last year by 12.

New listings numbers came in very strong this week. In fact, they once again reached their second-highest weekly level for the year as 184 houses and condominiums hit the market, to see an increase of five compared to last week and a whopping gain of 65 units compared against the same week in 2011.

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The total inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category saw its first significant gain in weeks as that number pushed higher by 58 units from last week to reach 1,190 properties. That leaves us roughly 150 units shy, or about ten percent off of inventory levels recorded on the same date last year. Today’s active listing searches show 714 single-family homes (houses) and 397 condominiums bearing an “active” status. Last year, at this time, those numbers sat at 786 and 486 respectively.

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The average selling price of a Saskatoon home surged higher over the previous week gaining almost 20K to reach $337,459. The median sale price took the same direction but capped its gains at 18K reaching $318,900. For the fourth consecutive week, the six-week average selling price of a Saskatoon home reached a new record high. This past week, it grew by about twenty-five hundred dollars to finish the week at $346,386 and claimed an annual gain of just over thirty thousand dollars. The four-week median price slipped two thousand dollars from the previous week to $323,000 to put it $14,500 higher than it was one year ago.

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Saskatoon homes that traded for more than the asking price inched marginally higher to seven. Those fortunate sellers managed to pick up an additional $3,861 above their asking price. Another 18 home sellers bagged a full price offer. Meanwhile, 71 of this week’s 96 sales required a sharper pencil for the seller. Those deals concluded below the asking price by an average of $8,776.

Other notable Saskatoon real estate activity on the multiple listing service® this week includes 36 canceled and withdrawn listings, just 5 properties that expired from the system without a sale and 41 price changes.

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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

It was a busy week for Saskatoon real estate agents in both new listings and sales.

This week, a total of 109 single-family homes and condominiums were reported sold to the Saskatoon MLS® system, the second-highest number for any week this year. That amounts to a gain of 18 units compared against the previous week’s sales, and it’s also up by the same amount when compared against sales reported for the same week in 2011.

New listings were also at their second-highest weekly level for the year at 179, up 34 from the previous week and higher than the total number of Saskatoon homes offered for sale on the market during the same week a year ago by 15. For eight of the ten previous weeks, new listings have tracked year-over-year gains.

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Still, gains to the inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category are sluggish at best as it grew just twelve units this week to 1132 and finished the week lower on a year-over-year basis by almost 200 homes. In fact, the residential inventory listed on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® is at its lowest point in nearly four years for the time of year. It’s been that way for about six weeks. If the current trend continues we may be headed for the lowest levels of inventory since 2007 when supply diminished to almost nothing. There doesn’t appear to be any realistic chance that we’ll see the very low levels of 2007 again, but supply is softening while demand appears to be increasing.  At present, there are 677 single-family homes and 383 condominiums displaying an active status on the system. That compares to 774 and 490 respectively at the same point in time during 2011.

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The average sale price of a Saskatoon home took a significant slide this week when compared against the last, finishing lower by about $35K at $318,778. With far fewer weekly sales above the $500,000 mark, and a handful more below $200,000 the weekly median fell even more as it slid more than $40,000 to close at just $302,000 for the week. At the same time, the six-week average sale price managed to inch up a little more than a thousand dollars from last week to close at a new record high of $343,821 and record an annual gain of more than $27,000. The four-week median took a serious slide dropping almost $15,000 from the previous week to finish at $325,000 for a year-over-year gain of just $12,500.

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I had an opportunity to participate in a social yesterday that was well attended by Saskatoon mortgage brokers. It was interesting to hear one of them talking about how insane the market is noting that there are all kinds of multiple offers and “everyone is over-bidding.” For the record, “everyone” is not overbidding. There were five overbid sales this week, not counting a few brand new homes that may have included extras not included in the original listing. That’s less than five percent of sales, and those that did sell above list went for an average of just $1,600 over. This is just a simple fact. For the majority of Saskatoon home buyers (those buying under $400K), they’re clearly facing a seller’s market but whether you’re buying or selling, it’s important that you’re not taken in by this kind of hype. Every situation is clearly different and a few sales that went well over list price have hit the stat sheet this year, but in most cases, even where multiple offers are a factor, homes are selling for somewhat less than asking price. That was the case in 82 of this week’s 109 recorded sales. Those buyers managed a discount averaging $7,406. Another 22 lucky sellers received offers at their full asking price and wrapped up a deal.

Other notable Saskatoon real estate activity this week includes 34 canceled and withdrawn listings, 38 properties that expired from the system without a sale and 48 price changes.

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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

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for April of 2012 today, accompanied by the following release.

he number of listings increased in April, which is typical of the spring market. “Even though the Saskatoon market saw a 20% increase in the number of sales in April compared to April of 2011, a 15% increase in the number of listings year-over-year helped to keep the market in balanced territory,” according to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR). The sale-to-listing ratio is a good indicator of the balance between buyers and sellers. A current ratio of 56% indicates that slightly more than one out of two houses listed are selling. “By comparison, at this same time in April of 2007 the sales to listing ratio was at 90% which helped fuel a significant increase in prices in Saskatoon,” says Yochim.

Year-to-date, sales in the price range between $200,000 and $300,000 were down 3% compared to last year while sales in the $300,000 to $500,000 price range were up 34%. “There is still healthy activity over $300,000 with a good supply of product, however, the selection is tighter in the $250,000 to $350,000 range.”

The total residential volume year to date was $555,154,716, up 25% when compared to this time last year. In April, the average price of a home in Saskatoon was $341,486 while the median price was $335,000.

The average sale price is determined by dividing the total dollar volume of sales by the total number of units sold across the Saskatoon market while the median price is determined using the mid-point of all sales listed. “It is important to remember that these numbers should not be applied to a specific style of home in a specific neighborhood. If a consumer is interested in data more specific to their situation it is advisable to contact a professional REALTOR® for an accurate determination of price,” Yochim summarized.

Jason Yochim

Executive Officer Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®

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 me.

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra