Happy Halloween!

Up against an unusually strong week for the same period last year, Saskatoon real estate sales fell substantially lower this week to just 63 homes, down from 109 last year, for a weekly decline of 14. New listings moved in the opposite direction growing by ten when compared to the same week a year ago to reach 167, for a weekly gain of 17.

In spite of weaker sales and higher levels of new listings, inventory saw modest declines as 50 listings expired without a sale and came off of the MLS® system. The total number of residential listings on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® sits at 1962 this morning, its lowest point since mid May. Still, that’s just 20 fewer than there were a week ago, and 448 more homes than were available a year ago. Single-family homes inventory sits at 1130 today, down just five from last week’s close, and up from 911 on this date a year ago. Condo inventory slips from 672 last week to 661 today for an annual increase of 208 units. Another 66 listings will expire over the weekend, most likely bringing totals just below 1900 for the first time since the middle of April when it sat at 1869. Thats said, listing have increased during the first week of the month in each of the last four months as sellers rushed to get there listing active again.

The average sale price of a Saskatoon home pushed slightly higher to $346,982 this week, even as more activity in the lower half of the Saskatoon real estate market brought the median sale price lower by fifty-one hundred dollars to $329,900. Meanwhile, the six-week average price fell by just under two thousand dollars from last week to $347,442 for a year-over-year decline of $12,500. The four-week median price inched up five hundred dollars from a week ago to finish the week at $345,000 for a loss of $5,000 from where it stood a year ago.

Overbid sales fell fairly flat as just three buyers found themselves writing an offer that came in above the seller’s asking price. The average overbid amounted to just $767. On the other had, 55 buyers found a seller willing to settle for a discounted sale price which averaged $11,430. Another five sales closed at the full asking price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 91 cancelled and withdrawn listings (81 and 10 respectively), 50 expired listings and 99 price changes.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 Saskatoon real estate market continued to produce sales at levels that are fairly typical for this time of years. A total of 77 Saskatoon homes were reported sold through the multiple listing service®, up ten units from last week, and down four when compared against the same week a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of new listings added to the MLS® fell lower for the seventh consecutive week slipping to just 150 properties, down 14 from last week and down four from the same period last year. That’s the smallest number of new listings for any week since the third week of February, again, a fairly typical decline given the season.

The total number of residential listings available to buyers through the Saskatoon multiple listing service® slipped to its lowest level since early May as it fell to 1982 properties, down 34 from last week to find itself up by 421 homes when compared against levels recorded a year ago. Taking a closer look by housing type, we see 1135 single-family homes, roughly 20 fewer than were available a week ago, and just 28 more than were displaying an active status on the MLS® a year ago. I believe that to be the smallest year-over-year gain posted this year for detached houses. Condo inventory slips just four units from last week to 672 units for an annual increase of 218 properties to record a year-over-year inventory increase of 48 percent. About 70 listings are scheduled to expire over the next week, while another 124 will meet the end of their term the following week so it’s looking like we’ll see numbers fall off soon, again in a fairly typical fashion.

This week’s sales combined to produce a weekly average sale price of $346,773 and a weekly median price of $335,000, an indication of more activity at the lower end of the Saskatoon real estate market. Looking to the longer term measures we see the six-week average price inching up about $700 from last week’s close to $345,551 for an annual loss approaching 13K. The four-week median price slipped just $500 to reach $344,500 for a year-over-year increase of five thousand dollars.

Remarkably, this week’s sales include seven properties that sold for more than the asking price with buyers paying an average bonus of $5,685 to those sellers. On the other side of the table, 65 home buyers came away with a discount averaging a rather hefty $13,043. Another five sales closed at the full asking price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 91 cancelled and withdrawn listings (80 and 11 respectively), 59 expired listings and 78 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

MLS® homes sales and new listings both fell lower this week. Saskatoon real estate agents reported just 67 firm residential sales to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, down from 80 a week ago to fall short of sales for the same week last year by ten. Meanwhile, local agents brought 183 home listings to the MLS® system, down 20 from the previous week to show a year-over-year increase of eight listings.

Active MLS® listings in the residential category continued to maintain levels above 2000 as it has for 21 of the past 22 weeks. Inventory grew by just 18 units to finish the week at 2023 for an annual increase of 482. Today, single-family inventory sits at 1161 units, up from 1148 last week, and up on last year at this time when approximately 1033 single-family homes were available to buyers. Condominium listings total 679 units, down seven from last week but ahead of levels recorded a year ago when about 435 condominiums were being offered for sale. That puts condo inventory up by 56 percent on an annual basis while single-family homes show gains of about 12 points on the year.

Increased activity at the upper end of the Saskatoon real estate market brought the median sale price of a home sharply higher to $346,500 while the average made similar weekly gains and climbed to $355,112. Both of the longer term measures took their largest gains in the past two months. The six-week average price grew by more than three thousand dollars from last week to $347,222 to count an annual loss of about six thousand dollars. The four-week median price grew by five thousand dollars from a week ago to hit $335,000 which is up seven thousand dollars from the same week last year.

Once again, buyers had the greatest clout during negotiations leading to 57 deals closing below the sellers asking price by an average of $11,910. On the flip side, five sellers scored a bit of a bonus with an above asking price offer that netted an average bonus of $11,480. The remaining five sales closed at full list price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 101 cancelled and withdrawn listings (86 and 15 respectively), 42 expired listings and 92 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

Saskatoon real estate agents reported 67 firm residential sales to the multiple listing service® this week to match last week’s production while recording a year-over-year decline of 13 home sales. Meanwhile, the number of new listings added to the MLS® fell to just 164, the smallest number added during any week since the week of February 28 of this year. This week’s total is down 19 from last week but still well ahead of numbers recorded during the same week last year when just 137 new listings were added to the system.

Looking back on last year’s post for this week I can see that we had reached 3840 unit sales by this point in the year. Today we’re sitting at a year-to-date total of 3341 sales for a loss of about 500 units, and a percentage decline of 13. At that time I wrote;

“Interesting, at least to me, is the fact that by the close of this week 3,840 residential sales had been reported for the year. That’s nearly 300 more Saskatoon homes than had been sold by this time last year, and 28 more sales than had occurred by this date, in what turned out to be the strongest year ever for the number of Saskatoon homes that traded hands, 2007. It’s looking like 2014 is likely to be the new record holder for the largest number of residential trades. Don’t be fooled into believing that the market is weak. If you’re trying to sell now, and failing, you are actually letting a pretty good time pass you by.”

It’s fascinating to me as I look back, that even at that time, people were talking about how tough the Saskatoon real estate market had gotten. It seems, with years of seller’s market conditions in our recent past that people have a strange attitude about how a real estate market should work. Every year can’t be the best on record and some balance is important to keep things in check. 2015 has turned out to be a much more balanced year, perhaps leaning towards a buyer’s market in some categories and price rages.

Still, even though conditions are clearly tougher for sellers, some continue to operate with a seller’s market mindset. These are the listings that are clogging up the system with little hope of selling, overpriced and under prepared. To be a successful seller today, every detail needs to be considered (price, staging and presentation, promotion) and your attitude has to be right. You have to understand that we are no longer in a market where a seller can dictate all of the terms. This past week, one of my agents wrote an offer of $330,000 on a property priced at $339,900. The response she received was, “My seller will accept $335,000. They’re giving this counter verbally as they don’t want to waste anymore time on this.” Guess where that went. Right, absolutely nowhere. I mean, is there a better way to offend someone than to say, “don’t waste my time”? Understand that if you’re not willing to show a buyer that you’re interested in their offer they will walk. Plain and simple. Prepare your home properly, ensure that it’s presented and promoted masterfully, and don’t be an asshole. You’ll likely come out okay.

What do you think is ahead for 2016? Leave us a comment below, please.

Active MLS® inventory in the residential category inched lower this week to 2016, down just seven units from the previous week’s close and up by 473 when compared against levels recorded at the time last year. Our single-family homes inventory closed the week at 1154, up just a bit (5.3 percent) from last year when 1096 detached homes were available on the system. Year-over-year increases in the single-family homes category have been repidly declining each week for more than a month now. This is the smallest year-over-year increase this year, to the best of my recollection. Condominiums are a different story. Today we have 676 condos showing an active status, up from 426 a year ago for an annual increase of about 59 percent. Annual gains in the condo category have become fairly routine in recent weeks. Going back to my comments about the change in markets, if you’re selling a condo you are in for a rougher ride, for sure.

Prices continue to remain remarkably resilient in the face of tougher conditions. This week saw the average sale price of a Saskatoon home stay level at $355,807 while the median sale price for the week saw some big gains growing to $354,000 as a result of more upper end activity. The six-week average price lost about three thousand dollars on the week to hit $344,210 to find itself down from last year by roughly nine thousand dollars. The four-week median price grew by ten thousand dollars this week reaching $345,000 to finish higher than it was at this time last year by eight thousand dollars.

Things went the buyers way at the negotiating table this wee as 59 of 67 sales were reported to have sold below the asking price netting the buyer an average discount of $11,304. Still, a few sellers hit the jackpot as seven deal were processed showing an average bonus of $11,304. One deal went through at the seller’s list price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 79 cancelled and withdrawn listings (74 and five respectively), 39 expired listings and 70 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

Saskatoon real estate agents processed 80 firm residential sales through the multiple listing service® this week, down 16 from last week to fall short of numbers achieved over the same period last year by nine homes. Of course, this week also brought the month of September to a close. We wrapped up with a total of 364 sales to finish about 15 percent lower than last September when 427 Saskatoon homes changed hands. While those numbers represent a sharp decline compared to last September, they're actually fairly typical for the month. The five-year average, even including last year's extraordinary sales number if 367 units.

New listings continued to flow onto the MLS® at a more reasonable pace. Local agents added203 properties to the actives listings database, the same number as were added the previous week. It was one of those rare weeks during which new listings fell short of last year’s numbers. Looking back to the same period last year we see 222 new listings coming on the market.

The total number of residential properties for sale on the multiple listing service® took a typical month-end dip due to a good handful of properties that expired without a sale. We had dipped below the 2,000 mark as the inventory reached its low point for the week but by this morning the total stood at 2005, down 52 units from last week’s close, and up from 1551 at this time last year. Taking a closer look by housing type there are 1148 single-family homes offered for sale today, up from 973 a year ago. There are 686 condominiums showing an active status, up from 443 (55%) at this time last year.

Some continued weakness at the upper end of the Saskatoon real estate market contributed to a lower average sale price for the week and a lower median price. Those slipped to $335,652 and $324,350 respectively. The six-week average price managed to break a six-week losing streak by taking a gain that wouldn’t buy you a nice dinner for two. It closed the week at $343,898, up from $343,817 the previous week and handily down from where it stood a year ago when it came in at $359,862. Meanwhile, the four-week median price slipped by nearly five thousand dollars to $330,000 which is on par with previous lows for the year recorded during February. That measure is down by ten thousand dollars from a year ago. A falling number of sales at the upper end of the market is definitely playing into the price declines, even skewing the numbers lower a bit. Later in the week, I’ll share some stats that I dug up in preparation for the Royal LePage House Price Survey for the 3rd quarter of 2015 that show a fairly buoyant market in the price ranges closest to Saskatoon’s average price and a pretty depressed market at the upper end.

This week at the negotiating table, 70 buyers managed to grind a discount that averaged $11,490. The largest discounts don’t amount to more than about 25K but there are some lower-end properties that took an offer ten percent below list to close the deal. Meanwhile, five sellers found a buyer willing to pay more than the list price. The average overbid of $10,640 is skewed up by some new homes sold above the asking price, most likely including additional improvements not anticipated in the asking price. The remaining five deals closed at full list price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 7 canceled and withdrawn listings (82 and five respectively), 124 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

A media release from The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) follows regarding September 2015 residential real estate sales in Saskatoon and area.

Please note that the association’s comments often touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some of their comments may address sales within the association’s full trading area. The charts that you see on these posts, as always, reflect data for activity within the city if Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past five years.

September home sales in Saskatoon were down 16 percent compared to September of 2014 and 12 percent lower year-to-date. In the opinion of Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®, "We have to keep in perspective that 2014 was an exceptional year for real estate and these lower numbers are consistent with the five-year average for sales. We are actually doing quite well through the economic challenges when compared to some other western Canadian cities."

Inventory levels within Saskatoon continue to hover at just over 2,000 available properties. Many of the listed properties are new homes and many of these are condominium units. "Almost half of the available inventory is located east of Circle Drive,” adds Yochim. "As builders feel the pinch, we can expect to see vacant condo units hit the rental market."  

Click image for a larger view.

The average home sale price of $353,587 continues to hold steady but is expected to start a slight decline with slower sales. The median sale price, on the other hand, has shown a slight decline to $330,000. According to the Multiple Listing Service®, homes were selling for just under 90 percent of the average asking price in September, the widest margin since last August. In the past couple of years, this percentage has typically been in the low to mid 90's. With a buyer’s market, it is expected that it will be more challenging for sellers to see offers close to their asking price if they are not sensitive to the market. "It's important to keep in mind that in any market a properly priced home will sell in a short period of time for top dollar if it is priced right from the start,” says Yochim. "This is not a market for speculation and overpricing."

The sales-to-listing ratio for September was 37 percent which is calculated by dividing the number of new properties listed for sale by the number of sales for the same period. A ratio of 40 percent or less indicates a buyer’s market while a ratio in excess of 60 percent is considered a seller’s market. On average in 2014 the market was firmly balanced while in 2015 it has shifted in favour of buyers. 

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

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