It’s one of those weeks that doesn’t really have much to say. As is typical for Christmas week reported sales fell hard, partly due to the season, and patly due to a three day work week at the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®, the organization that hosts and manages the local MLS®. Still, Saskatoon real estate agents posted 26 residential sales for the week, the lowest number of weekly sales reported since the opening of 2015. This week’s numbers are down 20 units from the previous week and two below numbers recorded during the same week last year. Another sluggish week will follow before numbers begin their slow but steady increase into the spring.

Remarkably, 46 Saskatoon homes were added to the Multiple Listing Service®, well below the 100 new listings added last week, but enough to top those that entered the system during the same period last year when just 32 were added to the inventory.

The total number of active residential listings remained stubbornly high for this time of year as we closed the week with 1648 homes for sale, down just 42 from a week ago and well above the 1284 homes that buyers would have found on the Saskatoon MLS® a year ago. As we enter the final stretch to year end, another 245 listings are set to expire before the calendar turns. It remains to be seen how many of those sellers will choose to extend their unsuccessful run in hopes of attracting buyer early in the new year. Taking a closer look at specific housing types we find 913 single-family homes for sale, down just 13 units from the count a week earlier, well up from the 759 that could be found showing an active status on the system a year earlier. Condo inventory slipped 36 units from where it sat a week ago to 568 finding itself up from 368 a year ago.

Far fewer sales typically plays havoc with the price measures. The median price paid for a Saskatoon home fell lower this week to $315,000 even as the average price bounced back from last week’s low to reach $344,387 a number more typical and more likely representative of the “average” for the year. The six-week average price stayed stable on a weekly basis at $355,011 to take some gains on a year-over-basis as it grew by a bit more than five thousand dollars. The four-week median price gained $250 on the week to reach $347,250 for an annual increase of about sixteen thousand dollars.

Saskatoon home sellers who did bag a sale worked hard for it at the negotiating table. While three of them found a buyer willing to pay full asking price, ghost town like conditions when it came to home showings prevented any of them from finding an above list price sale. On the other hand, 23 of this week’s 26 buyers ground themselves a discount averaging $13,913 which will be one of the largest average breaks recorded this year, which isn’t unusual for Christmas week.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 26 cancelled and withdrawn listings (20 and six respectively), 46 expired listings and seven price changes.

As the year draws to a close I’d just like to say thanks again for showing up and reading our blog. We appreciate you. All our best for an amazing 2016!

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 sales continued to soften as we pushed towards the holidays. Local agents reported just 46 firm residential sales this week, down from 54 last week to fall well below numbers recorded during the same week last year when 67 home sales were reported sold.

New listings also trailed lower. 100 Saskatoon homes were added to the multiple listing service®, a drop of 27 from a week ago, but well ahead of the 80 homes that hit the MLS® during the same period last year.

The inventory of active MLS® listings continued on a typical year-end downward trend as more homes expired without a sale. As of this morning there are 1688 residential listings showing an active status on the system, down from 1739 at this time last week, and up from 1298 a year ago. Taking a closer look by housing type, we can count 926 single-family homes that are currently offered for sale, down from 961 last week, but up from 764 a year ago. Condo numbers sit at 583 today, down from 604 last week, and up from 393 when compared against levels seen during this same weekend last year.

A real lack of sales at the upper end of the Saskatoon real estate market, combined with some stronger numbers at the lower end ushered prices lower by every measure. The median sale price of a Saskatoon home tumbled to $331,700 while the average sale price fell to to one of it’s lowest levels this year at just $326,064. The six-week median price edged lower to $355,098 for a weekly loss of roughly seven thousand dollars and an annual loss of about three thousand dollars. Meanwhile the four-week median price slipped about three thousand dollars from last week to settle at $347,000 for an annual increase of eight thousand dollars.

Overbid sales saw a bit of a comeback as four sellers found a buyer willing to pay more than they were asking with an average bonus of $1,100. Another four made off with a full price offer while 38 of 46 sales closed below the asking price netting the buyer an average discount of $11,400.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 54 cancelled and withdrawn listings (50 and four respectively), 61 expired listings and 26 price changes.

My family will be celebrating Christmas next weekend so the Week in Review will be delayed a few days. I’ll get at it early the following week. If you celebrate too, we wish you the happiest of days, packed full of the people, food and other fun stuff that you enjoy the most. Merry Christmas.

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

As we enter the final weeks of the year, activity starts to slow as it always does, and the numbers begin to get close to meaningless because the sample size is so small. That said, this was one of the rare weeks where we found ourselves with higher sales when compared against the same week last year so we’ll celebrate that. I will, anyway.

Saskatoon real estate agents reported a total of 54 firm residential deals to the local multiple listing service®, down from 62 the previous week, but up from 41 on a year-over-year basis. New listings, one the other hand spiked higher growing by 20 units compared to last week, reaching 127 homes for an annual increase of 50 listings.

On the heels of a week that saw the largest reduction to the active inventory of MLS® listings this year, that decline slowed to just 20 units this week. As of this morning, the Saskatoon MLS® system shows 1739 active residential listings, up from 1351 at the close of the same week in 2014. There are currently 948 single-family homes in the “active” category, down from 961 last week, and ahead of the 799 homes available at this time last year. Condo levels sit at 604, a bit up from the 596 reported as active last week, and well up from 406 a year ago.

Lower end real estate sales increased in numbers this week and ushered the median sale price of a Saskatoon home slightly lower to $351,125 while some big numbers at the upper end pushed the average sale price sharply higher to $383,706. Both longer term measures took an upward path as the six-week average price grew by a bit more than five thousand dollars from last week reaching $361,965, its highest level since July. This would be the first week that the six-week average has shown an annual increase since the first week of August. It’s up on the same week last year by just a few hundred dollars. The four-week median price grew by nearly 5K compared to last week’s close . It finishes the week at $349,900 to find itself even on an annual basis.

Two of this week’s 54 sales were reported to have sold at a price greater than the list price, each by just $100. Another four sales closed at the full asking price. Buyers won at the negotiating table in the other 48 closed deals and those discounts average $13,048 off of the asking price.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 57 cancelled and withdrawn listings (53 and four respectively), 46 expired listings and 43 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

This week brought with it the close of November with a total of 281 residential sales having been reported for the month, down from 292 for the same month last year. With a percentage decline of just under four percent, November proved to be the strongest we’ve seen this year when compared against the same month for the previous year with the exception of July when sales for the month slightly exceeded those from the previous July. On a year-to-date basis, residential sales within the city of Saskatoon were showing a 13 percent annual decline at the close of the month.

The number of residential real estate sales reported to the Saskatoon MLS® system this week was up just one when compared against the previous week, and down just one on a year-over-year basis. New listings continued to display a slowing trend as they slipped lower to 107, down 19 from last week to fall just short of numbers recorded during the same week last year when 108 Saskatoon homes were offered for sale.

This week brought with it the largest decline to the active listings inventory of available Saskatoon homes on the multiple listing service®, which is clearly expected to happen during the month of December, typically at a pretty rapid pace as the holidays approach. These numbers should continue to fall through the last week of December before they start to consistently increase again as we push towards spring. We close the week with 1759 active residential listings, down 99 from last week, and up from 1410 at the close of the same week a year ago. A closer look by housing type shows 961 single-family homes for sale, well down from 1038 last week, and up from 816 at the same time last year. Condo inventory is at 596 today, down from 628 last week, and up from 443 a year ago.

Significantly more upper end activity brought both the weekly median sale price and the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher to $355,500 and $367,340 respectively while the longer terms measures that we track moved in opposite directions. The four-week median price slipped lower falling thirty-five hundred dollars from last week to settle at $345,000 for an annual loss of just under five thousand dollars. The six-week average sale price edged higher gaining about thirty-six hundred dollars compared to last week to close at $356,494 for a year-over-year decline, also very close to 5K.

It was a complete shut out when it came to overbid sales this week, and only three Saskatoon homes sellers found themselves accepting a full price deal. Meanwhile, 59 of 62 sales closed at a discounted price, dropping by $12,252 on average. The largest discounts for the week came on a $275,000 Holliston area condo that went $20,000 under list, a $450,000 Willowgrove detached home that went 35K under and an $800,000 City Park home that took a $75,000 haircut to close the deal.

Other notable real estate activity this past week included 45 cancelled and withdrawn listings (40 and five respectively), 109 expired listings and 52 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