Saskatoon real estate sales came back from what felt like a brutal slide last week as local agents reported 77 firm house and condo deals to the multiple listing service®. That’s a gain of 24 sales compared to last week, up just one from the same week a year ago. New MLS® listings continued to cool. Just 99 properties were added to the system. That’s the smallest number of new Saskatoon real estate listings since January. Those numbers were lower than last week by 17 but ahead of the same week last year by five.

Residential real estate inventory on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® slipped lower this week to 1168. While that number is down just 24 properties from levels seen a week ago it is the lowest number of listings available since May. This week’s final number comes in with about 47 fewer properties available than we could find on the system at the same point in 2011. Today, buyers can find 702 single-family homes and 377 condos on the MLS®. Last year at this time we had 747 single-family homes and 394 condominiums showing an active status.

Prices didn’t see much change this week by any of the measures we track except the weekly median price which slipped lower by more than eighteen thousand dollars to $301,500. In spite of an unusually low count of Saskatoon home sales above the $500,000 mark, the weekly average sale price fell just six thousand dollars to $320,311. Meanwhile, the six-week average sale price remained steady on a weekly basis at $326,521 which is actually lower than it was a year ago by a few hundred dollars. This would be the first week this year where the six-week average price has slipped lower on an annual basis. At the same time, the four-week median sale price managed to inch up by one thousand dollars this week to $321,000 to claim an annual gain of roughly eleven thousand dollars.

For the second week in a row, overbid sales were a complete non-factor. Ten lucky Saskatoon home sellers did manage to obtain a full price offers to wrap up a deal on their home while 67 of this week’s 77 sales were reported to have sold below the asking price by an average of $8,843.

Other notable MLS® activity this week included 46 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 8 expired listings and 32 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Station 20 West in Saskatoon opens its doors - Star Phoenix
Are we worrying ourselves into a housing crash? - Financial Post
Flaherty eyes privatization of CMHC - Globe and Mail
Canadians would feel the squeeze of higher interest rates: BMO - Financial Post
Wretched excess a recurring theme in these home ads - Star Phoenix
Higher mortgage rates would hit households hard: BMO - Globe and Mail
What if interest rates went even lower? - Financial Post
Carney digs in heels on consumer debt - Globe and Mail
Home prices 3.6% higher in September than a year ago - Globe and Mail
Bank of Canada’s Carney says rate hikes will be gradual - Reuter’s Canada
Home ownership still achievable - Star Phoenix

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

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

Saskatoon real estate sales headed in a downward direction this week and reached their lowest point since the third week of January. Local agents reported just 53 firm house and condo sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, down 25 sales from the previous week and 11 fewer than those recorded during the same week last year. Meanwhile, new listingsremained stable on a week-over-week basis as 116 houses and condos were added to MLS®, an increase of 18 units from the same period last year.

The inventory of active Saskatoon MLS® listings in the residential category continued to hold pretty steady, moving down by just seven properties from the close of last week to reach 1192. That’s still slightly fewer homes than were available at the same time in 2011 when 1225 Saskatoon homes displayed an active status on the MLS® system. Today’s tallies show 725 single-family homes and 376 condominiums. Looking back to last year, these two categories of housing stood at 746 and 411 respectively.  While the inventory levels are remaining stable, declining sales effectively increases inventory, from a “months of supply” perspective. Over September, we saw our supply of inventory rise to 3.7 months, up from 3.3 months at the end of August, and 2.8 months at the close of July. By anyone’s measure, that moves our inventory level into balanced territory.

Strong activity in the entry level market pushed the median sale price of a Saskatoon home lower by sixteen thousand dollars to $319,900 this week. The entry-level market had such a strong showing, relative to homes priced above $400K that even a sale above the million dollar mark couldn’t keep the average sale price for the week from slipping lower. It fell about $5K to $326,627. The six-week average price of a Saskatoon home came in just slightly lower at $326,197 to reach its lowest point since April. That represents a decline of over six thousand dollars from last week and an annual gain of just a few hundred dollars, the narrowest annual gain that I can recall for 2012. The four-week median moved in the opposite direction gaining five thousand dollars on the week to reach $320K and finished ahead of where it was at this time last year by twelve thousand dollars.

Overbid sales were completely absent from the Saskatoon real estate sales landscape but 11 sellers did manage to secure an offer at their full asking price. The other 42 recorded sales closed at a price below the seller’s list price by an average of $9,231.

Other notable MLS® activity this week included 58 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 13 expired listings and just 58 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Home sales rise for first time since March but down 15% year-over-year - Financial Post
Canadian debt soars into danger zone - Globe and Mail
Rate hikes needed to tame swelling consumer debt, bank warns - Globe and Mail
We’re $7,900 richer than thought, but deeper in debt - Globe and Mail
‘This is not the Great Depression’: Mark Carney - Globe and Mail
Year-over-year home sales plunge 15.1 percent in September - Globe and Mail
Canada’s housing markets: Who’s winning, who’s losing - Globe and Mail
Commercial real estate market climbs across Canada- Financial Post

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

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

Following three consecutive weeks of declines Saskatoon real estate sales sprang back this week as local agents reported 78 firm sales of single-family homes and condominiums to the multiple listing service® for an increase of nine compared against last week and up twelve sales from the same week a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of new listings added to the MLS® slipped lower this week to 115, a drop of 25 from the previous week but well up from the same week last year when just 65 Saskatoon homes were added to the inventory. 

Active residential listings continued to do what they’ve been doing lately; pretty much nothing. Over the course of the week, numbers of active listings on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® grew by 12 to reach 1199. At the close of the same week in 2012 that total stood at 1234. Today’s inventory count shows 729 single-family homes and 374 condominiums. A year ago, the system offered 744 active single-family homes and 416 condos.

The median sale price for the week moved higher by eleven thousand dollars this week to finish at $336,000 while the weekly average plunged lower by almost $45K to $331,888. Last week,  the average had hit an new all time high, skewed by a handful of big sales spread across fewer sales. This week’s average sale price nearly matched the six-week average which came in at $331,825. That’s about four thousand dollars lower than it was last week and up by just over ten thousand from the same week a year ago. Meanwhile, the four-week median edged up six thousand dollars this week to $315K, finishing up over the close of the same week last year by twelve thousand dollars. These are some of the narrowest year-over-year gains that we’ve seen in some time.

Overbid sales saw a bit of a resurgence increasing from two last week to six this week. On average, those buyers paid an additional $6,134 to firm up a deal. Another 11 buyers paid full asking price to close up their home purchase while 60 of the week’s 78 sales were reported to have sold below the asking price by an average of $8,146, a much smaller number than last week’s $12,410.

Other notable MLS® activity this week included 45 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 22 expired listings and just 33 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Saskatoon housing starts jump: CMHC - Star Phoenix
Potentially flawed data used by banks and lenders bump up house prices - Globe and Mail
New housing price index rises 0.2 percent in August - Globe and Mail
Why TD Bank thinks Canada is overbuilt- 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 herenow.

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

Saskatoon real estate sales softened again this week as local real estate agents reported just 67 houses and condos firmly sold to our MLS® system. That number is down 15 properties from last week but just lower than sales recorded during the same week a year agoby one. New listings remained steady at 140 units, the same number that were added to the multiple listing service last week, but behind last year’s numbers by three.

//

The total inventory of active residential real estate listings on the Saskatoon MLS® system declined by 20 units over the course of the week to reach 1187, the lowest number that we’ve seen since early May but still a fairly insignificant drop. Inventory has been unusually stubborn and sticking quite close to the 1200 mark for more than four months. The year-over-year picture sees a greater decline. Last year at this time, Saskatoon home buyers had roughly 80 more properties to choose from. Today’s totals show 721 single-family homes and 382 condominiums. Last year at this time we had  763 houses and 435 condos bearing an active status on the system.

Saskatoon saw its 11th residential sale for 2012 at a price exceeding $1 million dollars this week. Spread across a smaller number of unit sales this one skewed the numbers fairly significantly and pushed the average sale price of a Saskatoon home to a new high for the year at a whopping $376,076. In fact, this week’s average sets a new record for any week in the history of the Saskatoon MLS®, something that’s occurred several times this year. More activity at the upper end of the market pushed the weekly median price in the same direction as it closed at $325K, a full twenty-five thousand dollars ahead of last week. Meanwhile, the six-week average selling price moved higher by just a few thousand dollars from where it was one week earlier. It closed the week at $335,700 for an annual gain of about eighteen thousand dollars. The four-week median price bucked the trend and slipped lower on a weekly basis by one thousand dollars to settle at $309,000 and finished up year-over-year by just nine grand.

Some of the heat came off of buyers at the negotiating table as 58 of this week’s 67 sales closed below the asking price by an average of $12,410. That’s about $4,000 more than last week’s buyers managed to grind. Two buyers paid the seller more than they were asking by an average of $5,050. Another seven wrote an offer at full list price. Other notable MLS® activity this week included 58 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 55 expired listings and 60 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Why Gen Y should tough it out in the rental market - Globe and Mail
Saskatoon house prices still on the rise, agency says - Star Phoenix
New mortgage rules put brakes on housing market - Financial Post
Average home price ticks higher, Royal LePage says - CBC
Report shows Canada home sales sliding, prices still up - Rueters
Canadian house prices edge up in Q3 while number of home sales fall - Royal LePage
Home prices rise in Q3 but slowdown seen coming - Globe and Mail
Regina bucks national trend in Q3 - Leader Post
As housing market slows, industry scrambles to paint positive picture - Financial Post
Everything you need to know about Canada’s housing bubble - Financial Post
Sask. leads province in building permits - Star Phoenix
Sask. sees jobs jump 10,600 in September - Star Phoenix

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