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Saskatoon real estate week in review: December 20-26, 2015

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

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: December 13-19, 2015

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

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The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), released national sales statistics for the month of November, 2015 recently. According to the CREA, “The number of homes trading hands via MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations rose by 1.8 percent in November 2015 compared to October to reach its highest monthly level in six years. There was a fairly even split between the number of markets where sales posted a monthly increase and those where sales declined. The national increase was again led by monthly sales gains in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).”



Highlights of CREA's report    

      • National home sales rose by 1.8% from October to November.
      • Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 10.9% compared to November 2014.
      • The number of newly listed homes was up 3.1% from October to November.
      • The Canadian housing market remains balanced overall.
      • The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 7.1% year-over-year in November.
      • The national average sale price rose 10.2% on a year-over-year basis in November; excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, it increased by 3.4%.
      Read the entire report on

Canadian MLS® sales for November, 2015


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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Saskatoon real estate week in review: December 6-12, 2015

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

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A media release from The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) follows regarding November, 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.


Over the past month the inventory of homes for sale decreased by 6.5 percent largely due to a slowing of the pace of properties being added to the market. November saw a slight decrease in the months of inventory from 6.8 months to 6.5. This represents how long it would take to absorb the current inventory level based on the current volume of sales.


Click the images for a larger view.



There was a total of 280 sales in Saskatoon in November which is consistent with the five-year average. Sales activity in Saskatoon was down 13 percent year-over-year. A total of 3,737 Saskatoon homes had traded hands by the end of November. This volume of sales is comparable to 2012 which saw 3,772 sales by the end of November (Norm’s note: but down from last year, Saskatoon’s strongest sales year on record, when 4,294 homes had sold by this time). The current dollar volume of $1.7 billion is similar to 2012 as well. This represents a 14 percent decrease from last year.


Click image for a larger view.



Although sales have slowed in 2015, the average price of $354,000 only represents a one percent reduction from January 2015. The average price can be misleading however and should not be applied across the market. True market value will depend on the type of home, age, condition, location and what is competing on the market at the time. Some markets are in a much higher over supply while others have a shortage of available property. The median sale price for a home in Saskatoon of $350,000 is almost identical to the year previous. 


Click the images for a larger view.



Overall the CREA Home Price Index (HPI ) composite benchmark price for the Saskatoon market has been in a steady decline since September which was the high water mark at $317,000. The current benchmark value of $308,000 is the lowest point since May of 2013. "This would indicate that overall prices are cooling and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future," comments Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®.  "I don't expect to see a change in this trend until second quarter of 2016 at the earliest." In January of 2002, when the benchmark value was established, it was set at $114,000. The greatest increase in the benchmark price was when it climbed from $139,000 in January of 2006 to $303,000 by June of 2008. "It's strictly supply and demand, as inventory is absorbed, prices will begin to stabilize," he adds. 

Around 500 properties or approximately 27 percent of the inventory in Saskatoon is made up of newer homes built in the past two years. This has resulted in a drastic decrease in permits for new single-family homes, which are down 39 percent in 2015. Multi-family permits on the other hand are only down 15 percent over the same period last year.  

Sound pricing and timing advice can be provided by one of the 640 professionally licensed and trained REALTOR® members of The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. REALTORS® also subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are dedicated to developing professional standards and continuing education in the real estate profession. 


Jason Yochim

CEO, Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®


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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Saskatoon real estate week in review: November 29 - December 5, 2015

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

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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.
Trademarks are owned and controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Used under license.
MLS® System data of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) displayed on this site is refreshed every 2 hours.