It was another strong week for Saskatoon real estate sales as local agents reported 111 firm deals to the multiple listing service®, down just two from last week’s totals and falling short of sales recorded during the same week a year ago by 14, a decrease that has become more or less typical of the 2015 year. At the same time, the number of new listings added to the MLS® slipped to a greater degree, at least on a week-over-week basis. Saskatoon REALTORS® brought 199 new listings to the system, down 31 from levels seen a week ago, but up by 45 units on an annual basis.

The number of active residential MLS® listings available to buyers stalled this week. By the close of business Friday 2093 active residential listings could be found on the system, precisely the number that we ended with the previous week to bring us the first week of the year during which listings did not increase. While no gains could be found when comparing numbers against last Friday’s close, annual growth to the inventory sits at 541 homes today, the highest number of homes ever available for sale on the Saskatoon multiple listing service. At present, 94 listings are scheduled to expire between now and the first of July so it’s quite possible that we may see our first drop in inventory levels next week. Stay tuned. In the mean time, buyers have 1227 single-family homes to choose from, up from 945 at this time last year. Additionally, there at 665 condominiums bearing a for sale sign, up from 484 a year ago.

The mix of sales activity between upper end and entry level remained fairly stable so the median price of a Saskatoon home edged just slightly lower to $360,000. The weekly average fell a bit more to $364,660. Meanwhile, both the six-week average price and the four-week median price reached new highs for the year at $366,192 and $360,000 respectively. The six-week average price was up nearly two thousand dollars from a week ago, rising about three thousand dollars on an annual basis. The four-week median grew by $8,500 from last week’s number to find itself up by about the same amount on a year-over-year basis.

Overbid sales slipped lower to nine this week with average overbids of just $2,811 being recorded. Another 93 buyers broke away from the negotiating table with an average discount of $10,910. The remaining nine sales closed at the seller’s asking price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 90 cancelled and withdrawn listings (84 and six respectively), 19 expired listings and 84 price changes.

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

Happy Father’s Day to all of our Dad readers. Here’s to a great day!

Residential sales continued at a brisk pace as the final week of the spring of 2015 wrapped up. Saskatoon real estate agents reported a total of 113 firm sales to the multiple listing service® through the week, an increase of five from last week and just shy of the 120 sales reported over the same period last year. The number of new listings added to the MLS® system continued to top 200 for the eleventh consecutive week as 230 listings were added to the system, down 19 homes from the previous week but well ahead of number generated the same week last year when new listings took a sharp drop to just 179.

Total active residential listings available to home buyers through the Saskatoon multiple listings service® edged higher again climbing by 22 this week to close at 2093 for an annual increase of 532 properties. A closer look by category reveals 1211 single-family homes for sale, up from 943 at this time last year, and 664 condominiums for an annual increase of 169 units.  How high will inventory go this year? It’s hard to say. Weekly gains are small but steady and the trend line is still clearly upwards. At some point soon we’ll likely see a plateau, but it’s anyone’s guess as to where it will go after that. Over the past three years, inventory, after reaching its peak remained stubbornly high through the fall.

With a stronger mix of upper end sales this week, the median sale price of a Saskatoon home moved higher by 14K this week to $363,000. The average priced also edged up, though not nearly as much, as it grew my about two thousand dollars from last week to $371,968. The six-week average price gained about four thousand dollars from a week ago to finish at $364,472 claiming it’s highest spot on the price chart for the year, and an annual increase of just a few hundred dollars. Meanwhile, the four-week median price remained stable at $351,500 for the third week in a row, up just $1600 from levels recorded at this time last year.

Overbid sales increased to 11 this week as those lucky sellers saw offers with average overbids of $18,456. On the other hand, 96 buyers wrapped up a deal with an average discount of $10,457 to their credit. The other six sales were closed at the full asking price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 114 cancelled and withdrawn listings (105 and nine respectively), and 22 expired listings.

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

Saskatoon real estate agents processed 108 firm residential sales through the multiple listing service® this week, well up from the 87 sales reported last week, but falling just short of numbers achieved during the same week last year when 112 deals were wrapped up. It was another big week for new residential listings. Local agents added 249 units to the MLS® database for a weekly decline of 20 homes and an annual drop of eight.

That “peak” I mentioned a couple of weeks back continued to allude us as the total number of active MLS® listings available to Saskatoon home buyers pushed higher again reaching 2,071 by the close of business Friday. That was enough for a weekly increase of 36 homes, up from 1,573 at this time last year. The number of available single-family homes grew to 1,214 which represents a 33 percent year-over-year increase. Condo inventory finished the week at 666, up about 34 percent from a year ago.

Both the average sale price and the median sale price of a Saskatoon home bounced back from some unusual lows last week hitting $369,813 and $349,900 respectively. The six-week average price grew again, but just marginally. It ended the week at $360,861, up just a bit more than a thousand dollars compared to last week’s close. That’s down a little more than three thousand dollars from where it stood a year ago. The four-week median price remained stable at $351,400 to find itself up annually by about fifteen hundred dollars.

Once again, six sellers found themselves a buyer willing to pay more than the asking price. The average overbid this week reached $17,071. On the flip side of the negotiating table, 95 home buyers came away with a discount that averaged $10,213. Another seven deals closed at the full asking price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 94 cancelled and withdrawn listings (87 and seven respectively), 23 expired listings and 83 price changes.

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

The weather may have been heating up but the Saskatoon real estate market saw a cooling trend through the past week as the number of firm residential sales reported to the local MLS® dipped nearly 20 units when compared against the previous week to close at just 87, for a year-over-year loss of 34 home sales. Ouch. Meanwhile, new residential listings flowed onto the MLS® system at the fastest pace we’ve seen during any week this year. Local real estate agents brought 269 new listings to the multiple listing service® to produce the highest volume listing week this year. This week’s totals are up from 233 last week, and top the number of listings generated during the same week last year by 43.

Once again, predicting turned out to be a fool’s game. Last week, I suggested that a huge number of listings set to expire at the end of May would likely mean that we had reached our peak for the number of Saskatoon homes listed for sale on the MLS®. As it happens, only 61 of 283 listings set to expire actually did expire, but rather, most were extended to sit on the market for a longer period of time. By week’s end, inventory levels actually climbed again, this time by 18 units to reach 2,041 for an annual increase of 512 homes. Active single-family home listings broke the 1200 mark for the first time, up from around 950 a year ago. Condo inventory moves higher to 644 from about 490 at this time last year.

A lot more action at the lower end of the Saskatoon real estate market ushered both the median and the average sale price of a local home lower to $340,000 and $334,215 respectively. In spite of lower prices for the week, the six-week average price managed to make some small gains and grew by almost $1,500 on the week to reach $359,542 finding itself lower than it was a year ago by about a thousand dollars. Meanwhile, the four-week median price fell hard dropping $6,600 in just a week to reach $351,400 which was still enough to claim an annual increase of about $16K.

 Six sellers got all they wanted, and more, with an average overbid of $1,650. The majority of buyers still managed to walk away from the negotiating table with a discount. This week we saw 76 sales reported below asking price with an average underbody of $9,060. The other five deals closed at list price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 121 cancelled and withdrawn listings (112 and nine respectively), 61 expired listings and 85 price changes.

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