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Saskatoon real estate sales softened this week on both a weekly and an annual basis. Local agents reported a total of 85 single-family home and condominium sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, 10 fewer sales compared to the previous week, and down an equal amount when compared against sales for the same week a year ago. After a pretty strong roll in April, May has delivered four consecutive weeks in which sales have softened from the previous year. May of 2012 was an exceptional month with a total of 459 residential real estate sales. This year, we’re sitting at 333 with just one week remaining so it seems certain that we’ll come up a bit short for the month.


New listingactivity also softened, just slightly, as Saskatoon real estate agents added 158 properties to the MLS®, a drop of just seven compared to last week but up from the same period a year ago by eight homes.


On the heels of a week that saw a bit of a dip, the total inventory of residential MLS® listings gained some ground as it grew by 38 from last week’s totals to reach 1219, its highest point for the calendar year to finish ahead of levels recorded at this time last year when it stood at 1215. On a year-over-year basis we see single-family homes selection improving marginally from 733 last year to 752 today while condos record a very slight decline slipping from 399 a year ago to 392 today. Active Saskatoon MLS® listings have traced last year’s numbers pretty closely through the first five months of this year.


Far more activity at the lower end of Saskatoon’s real estate market, including nine sales below the $200,000 mark, assisted in ushering both the average and median sale price of a Saskatoon home lower. The average slipped 17K from last week to $347,530 while the median fell an additional thousand to finish the week at $329,500. The six-week median also softened as it slid close to four thousand dollars lower than the previous week to $347,530 to finish ahead of where it was the same week last year by just a thousand dollars. The four-week median price managed to gain nearly four thousand dollars on the week to settle at $343,950 and claimed an annual gain of nearly thirty thousand dollars.


After a bit of a cooling period last week, the number of sales that reported a price above the seller’s asking price tripled to nine while the average overbid increased sevenfold to $8,800. This number was skewed by a couple of properties that fetched more than $20K higher than list price. On the other side of listing price, 63 buyers managed to grind themselves a bit of a deal talking their seller lower by an average of $9,271. Another 15 homes traded at the asking price this week.


Other MLS® activity this week included 45 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 8 expired listings and 50 price adjustments.


Highlights from the news this past week


Mortgage rules help fuel rent hikes - Canadian Mortgage Trends
Canada’s housing slump only beginning: Capital Economics - Financial Post
Transition to higher rates could be very painful - Globe and Mail
Home ownership: What drives our passion to own a home? - Financial Post
Rental housing shortage now a national disaster - Globe and Mail
Canadian home building to plunge 30% by 2015 - Financial Post Low interest rates can raise risks for lenders - Star Phoenix
Canadians are paying off mortgages quickly - Financial Post
Slowdown? Nearly half of Canadian homeowners eager to buy property - Globe and Mail
Low rates help keep affordability stable: report - Globe and Mail
Flaherty: No housing bubble but still concerned about CMHC- 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

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: May 12-18, 2013
Saskatoon homes continued to trade at a steady pace compared to recent weeks as local agents reported 95 firm deals of houses and condominiums to the multiple listing service®, up just two from the previous week, and ten fewer sales than were recorded during the same period last year.


On the heels of the year’s two strongest weeks for new listings, activity cooled some as Saskatoon real estate agents added 165 properties (houses and condos) to the MLS® system. That number is down 20 homes from the previous week but up by 11 from the same week a year ago.


The total inventory of residential MLS® listings took its second spring dip, somewhat unusual for this time of year, slipping just one unit from the previous week to finish at 1183 homes and falling below levels recorded at this time in 2012 by 20 properties. Today’s inventory numbers show 729 single family homes and 377 condominiums with an active status. Single-family home inventory nearly matches last year’s numbers when buyers could find 726 homes to choose from. Condo numbers are down a bit from the previous year when just over 400 units were available on the Saskatoon multiple listing service®.


Another residential sale above the million dollar mark pushed the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher again this week. It moved up nearly 15K from the previous week to reach $364,578. Fewer low end sales helped the median price increase as well. It grew by about ten thousand dollars from last week to $347,500. The six-week average price failed to take any significant gains inching up just a few hundred dollars from last week to $353,656 to claim an annual gain of more than eleven thousand dollars. The four-week median price went up five thousand dollars from the previous week and reached $340,000, it’s highest point since early January. That number is about twenty-two thousand dollars higher than it was at the same time last year.


The number of Saskatoon home sales that were reported to have sold above the seller’s asking price plummeted, falling from nine last week to just three this week. Those sales produced an average overbid of just $1400. Another 14 transactions closed at full list price while 78 of the week’s 95 sales had the seller sharpening their pencil for a below list sale with an average discount of $9,335.


Other MLS® activity this week included 50 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 5 expired listings and 45 price adjustments.


Highlights from the news this past week


Thousands of immigrants flock to Saskatoon - Star Phoenix
Canada’s banks could be on the hook to bail out CMHC if disaster strikes - Financial Post
Canadian housing market not that bad for banks - Financial Post
House price gains expected to dip to lowest since 2009 - Globe and Mail
Flaherty says Canada real estate income trust wave no concern - Financial Post
Would shorter amortizations make the housing market safer? - Globe and Mail
Canada’s housing meltdown? Must’ve missed that - Financial Post
Signs of spring - and a soft landing - in Canadian real estate - Globe and Mail
Canadian home sales edge up in April, price gains least in two years - Financial Post
Are all of our eggs in the housing basket- Financial Post


Children and condos can go together with careful planning - 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

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The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), released national sales statistics for the month of April, 2013 today. According the CREA, "National sales activity is stable and the market remains balanced." Highlights of CREA's report    
  • National home sales rose 0.6% from March to April.
  • Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 3.1% below levels in April 2012.
  • The number of newly listed homes fell 0.9% from March to April.
  • The Canadian housing market remains firmly in balanced territory.
  • The national average sale price rose 1.3% on a year-over-year basis in April.
  • The MLS® HPI rose 2.2% in April, its smallest gain in more than two years.
Read the entire report on Canadian MLS sales for April, 2013.


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

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Saskatoon will join Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, the Fraser Valley and Regina in contributing data to Canada’s MLS House Price Index (MLS® HPI) making its first contribution on May 15.


The index was created to provide more accurate and in-depth analysis of real estate prices and trends than average prices, which are more typically reported. Taking more of an “apples to apples” approach, the MLS® HPI will more closely examine price changes to the same quality of home in the same neighbourhood, over time.


Similar to the Consumer Price Index, the baseline price will be represented as 100 going back to January, 2005. So a housing type having a MLS® HPI value of 150 has risen in value by 50 percent since January, 2005.


The index will also examine price changes by property type so you can expect to see more reliable data on:

  • Single family homes
  • One storey single family homes
  • Two storey single family homes
  • Townhouse and row units
  • Apartment style condos
  • A composite of all types weighted by sales

You can count on us to report on future MLS® HPI. Of course, we’ll continue to provide our regular weekly and monthly updates that use more traditional measures. I’m certainly interested to see how they compare of the long run.


Interested in the value of your Saskatoon home? Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here now, or call me at 306-241-6676 for a complimentary evaluation of your home.


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: May 5 - 11, 2013

Saskatoon real estate sales took a small dip on both a weekly and an annual basis this week. Agents reported a total of 93 firm house and condo sales to the multiple listing service®, down five from last week to finish three shy of sales recorded for the same period last year.


New listings continued to flow into the MLS® system at a fairly rapid pace as REALTORS® had their second busiest listing week this year adding 185 houses and condominiums to the inventory, down 11 properties from last week and roughly on par with numbers seen over the same week of 2012.


Following a bit of an unusual decline last week, the inventory of active MLS® listings once again began to increase growing by 32 units over the course of the week to reach 1184 and find itself lower on a year-over-year basis for the first time in eight weeks. Last year at this time residential inventory levels had reached 1190 properties.  By category, this year’s inventory nearly matches last year’s with 714 active house listings, compared to 715 last year and 381 condos, compared to 397 a year ago.


You’ll recall that last week’s price numbers were significantly skewed by a large number of upper end sales including a “handful of pretty pricey homes that traded above $600K” and one that went for more than one million dollars. With fewer of those types of sales in this week’s mix, both the average price and the median price of those Saskatoon homes that sold tumbled lower to $350,334 and $337,000, respectively. Still, both of the longer term measures that we track and share here continued to modestly trend higher. The six-week average price of a Saskatoon home increased by two thousand dollars compared to the previous week to find itself up over the previous year by roughly seven thousand dollars. Meanwhile, the four-week average price gained fifteen hundred dollars from last week’s close to finish at $335,000 and claim an annual increase of eleven thousand and five hundred dollars. These are some of the smaller yearly price increases that we’ve seen in the spring months for some time.


Overbid activity was pretty consistent with last week as a total of nine Saskatoon home buyers closed a deal above the seller’s asking price. The average overbid was $5,569 this week. Another 14 sellers managed to close at their full asking price while 70 of this week’s 93 sales recorded a below list price sale with an average discount of $8,375. Other notable MLS® activity this week included 75 cancelled and withdrawn listings (many re-listed at a new price and pumping up the new listing numbers), 8 expired listings and 44 price adjustments.


Highlights from the news this past week

Canadian banks: Safe as houses? - Financial Post

Renting your home can be lucrative but are you ready for tenants from hell? - Financial Post Why is the man who bet against U.S. housing worried about Canada? - Globe and Mail

CMHC takes first steps towards new identity - Financial Post

What housing crisis? Many homeowners would be spared in a correction - Financial Post


A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here. An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.


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.  A


ll of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call or email. 


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: April 28 - May 4, 2013

April brought a pretty good little run for the Saskatoon real estate market, one like we hadn’t experienced in a number of months. In fact, for the first time in six months sales in the residential category came in higher than they had during the same month the previous year. It feels like spring in Saskatoon, finally!


That said, this week’s sales didn’t quite measure up on a year-over-year basis. Local agents reported a total of 98 house and condominium sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, up five from last week but falling short of numbers hit during the same week a year ago when 109 homes traded hands.


New listings where through the roof strong as 198 properties were added to the MLS®, the largest number added during any single week since May of 2009. New listings were up over the previous week by 41 and ahead of the same period last year by 17.


A seven week streak of gains to the total residential inventory on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® came to an end as levels softened slightly compared to the previous week. As of this morning, 1152 Saskatoon homes display an active status, down from 1163 at the close of the previous week, but ahead of last year’s level by twenty properties. As has been the case for a number of months now, single-family home inventory is up slightly on an annual basis while condo inventory is down just marginally. Today there are 704 active listings of single family homes compared to 677 at the same time a year ago. A condo search shows 360 active listings, down from 383 a year ago.


Saskatoon’s fourth sale of the year, with a price above one million dollars and a handful of pretty pricey homes that traded above $600K skewed the average price paid for a Saskatoon home substantially higher than the previous week to a new record high for the year at $374,857. While upper end buyers showed a willingness to close offers, entry level sales had a weaker showing so the median price for the week also headed a fair bit higher to $364,075. The six-week average selling price of a Saskatoon home gained eight thousand dollars from last week to hit $351,363 and finished higher than the same week last year by roughly the same gain. The four-week median changed just slightly gaining five hundred dollars on the week to reach $333,500 for an annual bump of eighty-five hundred dollars. You may recall that over the previous two weeks the four-week median price had been showing year-over-year declines.


The number of buyers who were willing to pay a price higher than the seller’s asking price came in a ten. Those ten deals averaged a price that exceeded list by $2,490. Another 11 sellers closed a deal at their full list price while 72 of 98 sales reported this week produced a price below asking by an average of $7,712. Other notable MLS® activity this week included 42 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 10 expired listings and 26 price adjustments.


Highlights from the news this past week


Saskatoon real estate activity rebounds in April - Star Phoenix

Property value assessments skyrocket - Star Phoenix

Saskatchewan economy on solid footing - Star Phoenix

Hard to plan for city of a million - Star Phoenix

Canadian housing: Bursting bubble or gentle landing? - Financial Post


A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.


An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.


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

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The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for April of 2013today accompanied by the following release.


Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month to month basis over the past several years.


Increased activity in the real estate market in Saskatoon in the month of April made up for some of the lost ground in the first quarter of the year. Listing activity was up a modest three percent while sales activity was up eight percent when compared to April 2012. "Activity dropped off in the first quarter of 2013 for the first time in many months," says Jason Yochim, Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. "I was confident that we would see an increase based on the steady economic activity our city and province are experiencing. Saskatchewan is fortunate to not be in a 'boom' but rather steady economic growth which doesn't have that nasty downside that follows a drastic increase in market activity."


The year-to-date increase in the average sale price of a home is steady at four percent ($340,500) which has been the norm for the past number of years. The market remains comfortably in balanced territory with almost three months of inventory in Saskatoon. At the end of April there were 1,182 active listings on the market and a total of 439 sales for the month compared to 406 in April of 2012. The rural market surrounding Saskatoon is quite different with 917 active listings and only 117 unit sales in April equating to almost eight months of inventory. "In spite of the over-supply, the average price in the rural market still increased by nine percent to $327,000," according to Yochim.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


Home sales between $300,000 and $400,000 saw a nine percent reduction or 16 fewer units change hands in April of 2013 compared to the same month last year. On a year-over-year basis, the upper range of homes continued to sell well compared to this time last year with a 35 percent increase in sales over $500,000 representing 255 units compared with 189 a year ago. The Saskatoon market has seen a total of six homes sell in excess of one million in 2013.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.


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


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

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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.
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