As this fourth week of July wraps up the Saskatoon real estate market continues to move homes at an impressive pace with local agents reporting 98 house and condo sales to the multiple listing service® of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® for the week. That’s two fewer homes than were sold over the previous week and an annual gain of 17 units. At this point it’s looking fairly certain that July’s sales will exceed those recorded during the same month last year, perhaps leaving us just slightly behind when comparing year-to-date sales for 2013 to the same portion of 2012. The difference will be slight, either way, if there is a change.

New listing activity looks like it should at this time of year. Saskatoon real estate agents brought 144 houses and condos to the MLS® market this week, down about a dozen from last week, two fewer than were listed during the same week a year ago.

Inventory continued to sit at slightly elevated levels with 1309 active listings in the residential category of the Saskatoon multiple listing service® for a weekly decline of eight homes and a year-over-year increase of 60 properties. Looking back a bit further, the five year average for total MLS® inventory available during this particular week is 1310. All is pretty much normal there. A closer look at listings by housing type shows 765 single-family homes and 455 condominiums available to Saskatoon home buyers today. Last year at this time, those two categories sat at 779 and 409, respectively. Just as we’ve been seeing each week for several months, single-family homes (houses) inventory is pretty darned stable while choices available in condominiums has grown for buyers over the past year.

This week saw a couple of residential sales that came close to hitting the million dollar mark with an average sale price of $941,250 between them. After that, there was a pretty short list of real high end property sales on the books. As you might expect, the average sale price recorded on this week’s sales fell lower by nearly twenty thousand dollars to $346,290 while the median sale price edged lower much more modestly slipping 3K to $330,000. Meanwhile, the six-week average sale price of a Saskatoon home managed to inch higher gaining a little more than two thousand dollars on the week to claim an annual increase of nearly twenty thousand dollars. The four-week median slid lower dropping about four thousand dollars from the previous week to finish at $325,950 to close the week ahead of the same week last year by $8,250.

Overbid sales increased from two last week to four this week. Those buyers offered up an average of $1600 more than the seller’s asking price to claim the home as theirs. Another 11 buyers offered to pay full price to close their deal. That leaves us 83 buyers who drove a harder bargain and closed their purchase netting themselves an average discount of $8,349.

Other MLS® activity this week included 45 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 11 expired listing and 51 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this week

Housing math fails to add up - Star Phoenix
U.S. home sale drop in June while prices surge - Financial Post
Sask. household net worth fastest growing in Canada - Star Phoenix
Mayor concerned about mega project delays - Star Phoenix
We really are richer than we think - Star Phoenix

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Local home sales pushed higher for the second consecutive week as Saskatoon real estate agents reported 100 house and condo deals to the multiple listing service®. That number represents an increase of eight sales compared to the previous week and a year-over-year gain of five, for the first annual sales increase in three weeks time.

On the heels of a couple of weeks that saw new listings grow at a time when they’re typically decreasing the story changed and they began falling lower again. This week, local REALTORS brought 156 listings to the Saskatoon MLS®, down nine homes compared to the previous week but ten more than were listed during the same period of time last year.

Active listings in the residential category of the Saskatoon multiple listing service® grew again climbing 12 units over the course of the week to 1317, well ahead of levels recorded a year ago when Saskatoon home buyers had 1233 homes to choose from. A closer look at the major housing categories shows 776 single-family homes and 454 condominiums displaying an active status. At the same time last year, those key categories sat at 752 and 408 respectively.

Once again, high end sales skewed the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher to $365,592. Like last week, two sales contributed more than two million dollars in sales volume to the totals. Another six residential sales with prices greater than 600K just increased that even more. This higher number of upper end sales also pushed the median price for the week higher to $333,000. Meanwhile, the six-week average sale price of a Saskatoon home edged higher by six thousand dollars to reach $352,151 for an annual increase of roughly seventeen thousand dollars. The four-week median price remained stable on a weekly basis at about $330,000 to claim an annual increase of about twelve thousand dollars.

Overbid sales continued to trail lower with just two sales being reported as having sold above the seller’s asking price, one by $12,000 and the other by just $100. Another 16 sales were completed at full asking price. The remaining 82 sales closed at a price that was less than the seller had asked by an average discount of $10,984 for the first five figure average in several weeks.

Other MLS® activity this week included 60 cancelled and withdrawn listings, just 1 expired listing and 53 price adjustments.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Saskatoon real estate sales continued at a pace that matched a typical week in April or May. This week, local agents reported 92 firm house and condominium sales to the multiple listing service®, an increase of nine compared to the previous week, and pretty much on par with the same week last year when 94 homes traded.

New listings picked up just a bit with 165 properties hitting the MLS® system, up six from last week, and again, very similar to last year’s number of 167.

After three consecutive weeks of declines active Saskatoon real estate listings in the residential category of the MLS® system shot higher again and grew by 36 units over the week to reach 1305, roughly 90 units ahead of totals seen a year ago. Today’s active listing searches on the multiple listing service® yield 763 single-family homes and 456 condominiums showing a for sale status. Last year at this time, those two categories of Saskatoon homes sat at 746 and 397 respectively.

Some huge residential sales including two homes that together contributed $2 million dollars to the weekly volume drove the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher to $352,865. At the same time, the weekly median moved in the other direction because of a pretty good handful of entry level sales, and fell close to $6,000. The six-week average price slipped lower by roughly four thousand dollars to end the week at $346,105 for an annual increase of about 12K. The four-week median price edged higher by two thousand for the week to close $330,000 for a year-over-year increase of fourteen thousand dollars.

Overbid sales slipped big falling from seven last week to just three this week. Those buyers gave up a good chunk of change offering to pay an average of $13,400 above list to buy the house they identified as their future home. Another 18 buyers made a full price offer. The remaining 71 closed deals reported a price that was below the seller’s asking price by an average of $9,990.

Other MLS® activity this week included 53 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 14 expired listings and 58 price adjustments.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

That little run we’d been on reflected in the sales numbers in our last two weekly reviews (highest house and condo sales in over five years) came to an end as the shortened week brought fewer Saskatoon real estate sales. Local agents reported 83 house and condo sales to the multiple listing service® for a weekly drop of 40 units to finish down compared to the same week a year agoby nineteen.

A short work week did nothing to slow the flow of new listings this week. Saskatoon real estate agents wrote 159 brokerage agreements to top the previous week’s production by three, finishing the week ahead of the same period in 2012 by one property listing.

The total number of active listings in the residential category of the Saskatoon MLS® system slipped lower again. This week it fell by 20 units to 1269 to finish ahead of numbers seen at this time last year by 60 homes. It would appear that we have likely passed our peak weeks for new listings and I expect the trend will be downwards for the balance of the year. A search of the MLS® database this morning shows 759 single-family homes available for buyers, up just marginally from 737 a year ago. Condo inventory sits at 432, up close to ten percent from the same point in 2012 when it sat at 397 units.

More sales activity at the lower half of the real estate market brought the weekly median sale price lower than last week’s by eight thousand dollars. It came in at $325,000 this week. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home tumbled a little harder falling to $329,155 to make one of just a handful of appearances this year below the $330K mark. The six-week average price slipped about $700 from last week to $350,090 to finish ahead of the same week last year by about eight thousand dollars. Meanwhile, the four-week median price took it’s first upward swing in six weeks as it gained eight thousand dollars over the previous week to finish at $328,000 for an annual increase of sixteen thousand dollars.

Overbid sales fell from seven last week to just four. Those eager buyers paid an average of $2,544 more than the seller’s asking price to wrap up a deal. Another 15 buyers stepped up with a full price offer to secure the property they wanted to own. The remaining 64 of this week’s 83 firm house and condo sales closed with a below list offer that netted the buyer an average discount of $8,311.

Other MLS® activity this week included 40 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 38 expired listings and 47 price adjustments.

I expect that the next couple of months will still bring some good opportunities for sellers who were slow to get their home on the market over the spring. Demand continues to be strong and rising interest rates are encouraging buyers with locked in rates to move more quickly.

Highlights from the news this week

Canada’s housing market shows signs of life - Financial Post
Buyers are back as Canada’s housing market defies doomsayers - National Post
Canadian housing market defies doomsayers with spring surge - Globe and Mail
Five reasons you don’t have to worry about a housing bubble - Business Insider
Canada’s housing boom pushes one in 10 Canadian families deep in debt - Financial Post
A funny thing happened on the way to the housing crash (it didn’t crash) - Globe and Mail
Douglas Porter: ‘We flatly reject’ sell-Canada narrative- Globe and Mail

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate