RSS

Saskatoon real estate week in review: July 22-28 2012

It felt like summer in Saskatchewan this week. Warm and quiet. Quiet, like almost everyone, had gone to the lake kind of quiet. Those around me were reporting fewer consumer calls this week. There seemed to be more time to catch up on projects that had been relegated to that “to-do someday” pile at the right side of the desk. My list got whittled down and that felt good.


The numbers this weekend backed up the feeling. Saskatoon real estate agents reported a total of 81 firm house and condo sales to the local MLS® system this week, a decline of 14 units compared to last week, fewer by 20 when compared against sales for the same week a year ago. This is the lowest number of weekly sales recorded since the first week of April.


New listings of Saskatoon homes held steady on a week-over-week basis at 146 to eclipse last year’s additions to the multiple listing service® for the same period by 33.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Having appeared to reach its annual peak six or seven weeks ago, the total inventory of residential listings on the multiple listing service® continued to behave rather strangely for the season and experienced its third consecutive weekly increase climbing 22 units to 1255. That number is still well down from the numbers we saw last year at this time when 1417 Saskatoon residential properties displayed an active status. In fact, the final tally is still lower than it has been for four of the past five years but this year’s trend line does suddenly look more like that of 2008 than any of the preceding years. Today there are 776 single-family dwelling and 409 condominiums appearing as ‘for sale’ on the Saskatoon multiple listing service. Last year at this time, those categories sat at 818 and 508 respectively.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Meanwhile, a bit of the lower end market activity that had been waning over the past couple of weeks came back as the weekly median sale price slipped lower by twelve thousand dollars to $315,000. The average sale price of a Saskatoon home held pretty steadily, down by just eight hundred dollars from the previous week to $329,527. Both of the longer-term measures remained fairly stable on a weekly basis but showed strong annual gains. The six-week average price slipped just four hundred dollars from last week to $334,840 for an annual bounce of nearly thirty thousand dollars. The four-week median price edged lower over the course of the week by about a thousand dollars. It finished at $317,200 to claim an annual gain of about 17K.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Four lucky Saskatoon home sellers closed a deal for more money than they had hoped for when they set their asking price. On average, they picked up $2,825 more than they listed the home for. Another 13 sold their home for the full asking price. As has been the case throughout the year, the majority of home buyers were able to grind a bit of a deal, at least relative to asking price, as 64 of 81 reported sales showed a price that was lower than the list by an average of $10,897.


In other MLS® activity this week, there were 41 canceled and withdrawn listings, 6 listings that came to the end of their term and expired without a sale and just 34 sellers who adjusted their asking price.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.



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

Read

Saskatoon real estate week in review: July 15-21 2012

Winding down its second full week operating under new mortgage guidelinesintroduced on July 9, the Saskatoon real estate market saw another steady and solid week of trades. Agents reported 95 firm house and condominium sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service® this week, up just one from last week’s numbers and ahead of the same week last year by just two sales.


New listings of Saskatoon houses and condominiums fell to their lowest level in four weeks time with just 146 new listings being brought to the market. That represents a decline of 21 homes compared to last week’s listing volume, but it’s sharply higher than it was a year ago when just 106 new listings were added to the Saskatoon MLS® system.''


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



The total inventory of residential listings on the multiple listing service® took an upward turn that is somewhat unusual at this time of year. The database grew in size by 19 properties over the course of the week to reach a total of 1233 homes, down from 1422 at the same time a year ago. Still, today’s totals are at their lowest point for this week in five years. Today, there are 752 single-family homes and 408 condos showing an active status. Last year at this time, those two categories sat at 814 and 512 respectively.


lick the image for a larger version of the graph.



Stronger sales activity at the upper end of the market including three home sales that pushed the $800,000 mark moved the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher to $330,284. The weekly median went in the same direction gaining a little more than 15K compared to last week as it reached $327,000. The six-week average price inched up a little more than two thousand dollars on a weekly basis finishing at $335,264 to claim an annual gain of just over thirty thousand dollars. The four-week median price saw weekly gains that matched that of the six-week average. It finished the week at $318,250 for a year-over-year gain of just about twenty-two thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



There were some stories of multiple offers being received on a few properties. For the most part, buyers stayed away from offering more than the seller’s list price. Just one sale closed above that mark. That overbid was $2,600. Another 15 deals closed with a sale price that matched the asking price while 79 of this week’s 95 sales were completed for less than asking price with an average discount of $9,233.


In other MLS® activity this week, there were 28 canceled and withdrawn listings, 10 listings that came to the end of their term and expired without a sale and 52 sellers who adjusted their asking price.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.



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

Read

Canadian real estate sales soften in June, 2012: CREA

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


.

Highlights from CREA's release

  • Home sales down 1.3% from May to June.
  • Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 4.4% below levels in June 2011, marking the first year-over-year decline since April 2011.
  • The number of newly listed homes climbed 1.4% from May to June.
  • Fewer sales and a rise in new listings resulted in a more balanced national housing market.
  • The national average home price slipped 0.8% on a year-over-year basis in June.
  • The Aggregate Composite Benchmark home price was up 5.12% year-over-year in June.

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

Read

It’s only been a few years since I first saw a serious home surveillance system installed in a Saskatoon home I’d been hired to market and sell. It was an impressive and sophisticated system that enabled the home owner to look in and listen to what was happening in their home while they were away. They used it regularly to monitor the home.  I later learned that they used it to look in on buyers who were viewing the home.



At the time, systems like this were rare because they did cost a lot of money. The value of this particular system was in the tens of thousands of dollars. Just a few years later, surveillance systems are a dime a dozen. In fact, a $5.00 iPhone app can monitor up to a dozen audio and video feeds using simple equipment like webcams. Small cameras and microphones can easily and inexpensively be used to monitor activity in the home.


The same equipment can be used to look and listen in on your “private home viewing.”


When viewing homes as a prospective buyer it’s best to behave as if you’re being watched. Avoid judgmental comments about the home owner's lack of taste. Try not to get too excited. Put on your poker face. Save your negotiating strategy discussions for the car ride home.  Behave as you would if the home owner were right there with you. They just might be.


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

Read

Saskatoon real estate week in review: July 8-14, 2012

Following a few brisk weeks with house sales reaching above the 100 unit mark the Saskatoon real estate took a bit of a dip falling by eight sales from the previous week to 94 and finishing lower than the same week last year by nine.


New listings of Saskatoon houses and condominiums came on fairly strong at 167, up nine units from last week to finish higher than the same week a year ago by nearly 60 homes. Many of those “new listings” were actually relists that were disguised as new listings with “days on the market” reset to zero.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



In spite of the large gap between sales and new listings, the total active inventory of Saskatoon MLS listings stayed fairly stable growing by just ten homes to 1214, down nearly 200 homes from levels seen a year ago. Today, there are 746 single-family homes and 397 condominiums showing an active status on the Saskatoon multiple listing service. At this time last year, there were 801 single-family homes and 518 condos available to home buyers.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



The average sale price of a Saskatoon home slipped lower for the third consecutive week and settled at $327,142 while the weekly median price pretty much held its ground slipping just $500 from last week to $311,500. In longer-term measures, this week’s sales see the six-week average price also holding firm on a weekly basis at $332,952 for a year-over-year gain of about $23K. The four-week median price grew by four thousand dollars on last week’s close to finishing this week at $316,000 for annual growth of $17,000.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Overbidding made a bit of a comeback compared to the previous week when they were nearly non-existent. This week, six buyers paid the seller more than their asking price but the average overbid was pretty low at just $62 (take the family for lunch). Another nine sellers found a buyer willing to step up and pay the full asking price while 79 of this week’s 94 sales were completed at a price that was below the seller’s number.


In other MLS activity this week, there were 56 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 16 listings that expired without a sale and 47 sellers who adjusted their asking price.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.



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

Read

The Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today showed strong year-over-year price increases for all three housing types surveyed in Saskatoon.


Standard two-storey homes posted the largest gain of 7.3 per cent, selling for a second quarter average of $379,500, over the same quarter in 2011. Detached bungalows saw a 6.0 percent increase over the same quarter last year, selling for an average of $351,125. Standard condominiums sold for an average price of $255,667, a 5.6 per cent year-over-year increase.


"This past year has been a big year for migration to Saskatoon and it’s reflected in our house prices,” says Norm Fisher, Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate. “Last year was a good year for market activity and we are seeing a 10 per cent increase over last year’s level this quarter.”


Fisher also noted that inventory for all three housing types were down, particularly detached bungalows.


“We are seeing some multiple offers, but even in those instances the selling price is usually only marginally higher than the listing price,” added Fisher. “Despite, the spurred market activity, buyers are being cautious.”


Nationally, in the second quarter, standard two-storey homes rose 4.7 per cent year-over-year to $408,423, while detached bungalows increased 5.5 per cent to $376,311. Average prices for standard condominiums increased 3.3 per cent to $245,825. During this period, signs from across the country clearly indicated that the national housing market was at a turning point, with some major regions continuing to grow unabated while others peaked and began to pull back for the first time in three years.


“We have had three years of solid house price appreciation in almost all regions of the country,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “Confidence in Canada’s real estate market is sound, but home prices cannot grow faster than salaries and the underlying economy indefinitely. Some regions have reached or perhaps even exceeded the current upper level of price resistance as buyers have embraced an era of historically low mortgage rates.”


The first-time buyer segment of the population, which represents up to half or all transactions and where activity strongly correlates to low interest rates, is expected to be slowed by recent regulatory changes that will reduce access to insured mortgages.


“The most recent set of mortgage changes, the fourth in four years, is also the most aggressive. The cumulative impact of these new regulations has created a significantly higher hurdle for young buyers seeking their first home and comes at a time when the market was slowing of its own accord. The timing of this intervention was unfortunate,” added Soper.

Read

Saskatoon real estate week in review: July 1-7, 2012

Welcome to July of 2012. The spring market is officially behind us.


Saskatoon real estate continued to move at a pretty good pace with 102 house and condominium sales reported to the MLS® over the course of the week. That finish left us down just two units from the strong results recorded the previous week and up by eight home sales when compared against the same week last year.


New listings of Saskatoon homes added to the multiple listing service® matched those from the previous week at 158 units to record an increase of 32 properties over the same period a year ago.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



As is the case at the close of every month, a number of expired listings fell out of the system and total active MLS® listings in the residential category slipped lower by 25 properties from the close of last week to 1204. That number is lower than it was at the same point in 2011 by 227 homes or about 15 percent. Today’s inventory shows a total of 737 single-family homes and 394 condominiums as “active.” Last year at this time those categories stood at 819 and 524 respectively.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



The average sale price of a Saskatoon home slipped lower for the second week in a row and settled at $331,095. The weekly median, affected by more activity at the Saskatoon real estate market’s entry-level dropped about 12.5K to $312,000. The longer-term measures both fell this week with the six-week average sale price of a Saskatoon home finishing lower by about seven thousand dollars and the four-week median down by twenty-five hundred. The six-week average closed the week at $332,678 for an annual gain of about twelve thousand dollars, one of the lowest year-over-year gains we’ve seen this year. The four-week median fell lower for the fourth consecutive week to $312,000 to finish ahead of last year by $12,500.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Just one Saskatoon home buyer paid more than the seller’s asking price this week, and not by much ($100). Another eight buyers paid the seller’s full asking price while 93 deals closed below the seller’s asking price by an average of $9,325. I’m speculating here, but I believe that’s about as good as it’s been for buyers during any week this year. Supply is down and demand is up but buyers are reluctant to engage in bidding wars and even where multiple offers exist sales above the asking price are becoming rarer each week.


In other MLS® activity this week, there were 34 canceled and withdrawn listings, 59 that came to the end of their term and expired without a sale and 35 sellers who lowered their asking price.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.



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

Read

Saskatoon real estate listing activity down in June, 2012: SRAR



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


For the first half of 2012, the number of properties listed for sale stood at 6026, down only slightly compared to 6081 at the end of June 2011. At the same time, the number of sales for the first six months of the year was 2984, an increase of fourteen percent over the same period in 2011.  “Saskatoon sales activity continues to outpace the rate of new listings which results in slight upward pressure on prices,” states Jason Yochim, the Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®.  “In 2011 the year-over-year increase averaged five percent each month while this year it is closer to eight percent.”  As a result, the total year-to-date (YTD) MLS® dollar volume was just short of one billion dollars, up twenty percent compared to last year with the possibility of reaching a record 2 billion by year’s end.



“The average sale price is somewhat misleading in reflecting the true market for several   reasons,” according to Yochim,  “In the five main areas of Saskatoon the average price ranges from $208,115 to $362,703.” Specific factors such as neighborhood, location, home style, and condition will greatly influence the true value of a home. “The best way to determine true value is to have a market analysis tailored to a specific property by an impartial, professional and experienced REALTOR®.”


The same trend appears to be taking place in the communities and areas surrounding Saskatoon. YTD the number of new listings outside of Saskatoon was 1451, down five percent from 1530 recorded in 2011. The number of properties changing hands by mid-year in areas surrounding Saskatoon totaled 570 compared to 523 for the same period in 2011, an increase of nine percent.


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

Read
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).
The above information is from sources deemed reliable but should not be relied upon without independent verification. The information presented here is for general interest only, no guarantees apply.
Trademarks are owned and controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Used under license.
MLS® System data of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) displayed on this site is refreshed every 2 hours.