The Saskatoon real estate market saw sales cool rather significantly this past week as firm deals fell to just 78 homes, down 14 from last week for a year-over-year decline of 30 units when compared against sales for the same week last year. New listings also slipped lower for the week to 205, down just three from last week but beating last year’s numbers by six.

Any hope that Saskatoon home sellers may have had that the inventory of active real estate listing had peaked were dashed as levels suddenly turned higher and reached a new record level of 2175. That’s up 45 from a week ago for an annual increase of 82 Saskatoon homes. I suspect that we are very close to peak numbers for the year. A quick look at past years suggests that inventory levels seldom grow much after this point in the calendar year. A closer look at the numbers by category shows 1159 single-family homes displaying a “for sale” status. That’s up from 1137 from last week but well down from the numbers recorded at the close of the same week last year when there were 1227 single-family homes available to buyers. Meanwhile, condo inventory continues to push new highs as those numbers grow by 17 from last week to reach 827. At this time last year, there were 665 Saskatoon condos for sale so we’re up in this category by roughly 25 percent.

The mix of activity saw fewer sales above $500K this week and that caused the average sale price and the median price for the week to slip marginally lower to $354,450 and $346,676 respectively. Following a pretty steady upward run that’s lasted the better part of two months, the six-week average price fell by two thousand dollars from the previous week to record an annual loss of just over nine thousand dollars. The four-week median price which has been on a similar tear leveled off to match last week’s number of $342,000 for an annual decline of thirteen thousand dollars.

The softer activity appears to have given buyers the upper hand at the negotiating table this week. Overbid sales were completely shut out, and only three listings were reported to have sold for the full asking price. On the other hand, 75 buyers made off with a discount that averaged $11,341. 

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 saw a modest increase this week growing to 92 homes, up just two sales from last week to finish well below last year’s numbers of 113. New listing numbers fell on a weekly and an annual basis as local agents added just 208 Saskatoon homes to the MLS® system, down 24 units from the week before and falling short of listings generated during the sale week last year by 22.

The total number of residential listings available to buyers through the multiple listing service® came off of its annual high this week as it slipped lower by just six properties from a week ago to settle at 2134. Single-family inventory declined by ten homes this week falling to 1137 for an annual decrease of 74 listings and a percentage decline of six. Meanwhile, condo inventory grew by five this week to reach 810, well up from 664 at the close of the same week last year. That’s roughly a 22 percent increase from last year’s levels.

A more typical mix of upper and lower end sales brought the weekly median price and the weekly average price back in line. Those two measures came in at $341,000 and $357,621 respectively. The four-week median price moved higher gaining nearly five grand from last week to reach a new record high for 2016 at $342,000. That number is still below last year’s number for this particular week by close to ten thousand dollars. The six-week average price also took some gains, but they were far more modest at just five hundred dollars. Still, at $358,791 there was only one other week this year that produced a higher six-week average price, and only by six hundred dollars. It’s still 5K below where it was a year ago. While prices appear to be higher than they have been at any time this year it’s important to understand that basic averages and median prices can be a bit deceiving in a changing market, especially one that is plump with inventory of one specific type, in this case, apartments. I’ve included some charts this week that show price index changes for single-family homes and townhomes, both of which are experiencing price growth, and then apartments which are moving in the opposite direction.

Of the 92 deals that went form this week, 79 were reported to have sold below the asking price with an average discount of $10,727. Across the negotiating table, two sellers came away with more than they were asking netting an average bonus of $800. Meanwhile, 11 sales closed at the asking price.

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 Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), released national sales statistics for the month of May, 2016 this week.

According to the CREA, “The number of homes trading hands via Canadian MLS® Systems fell by 2.8 percent month-over-month in May 2016 after having broken all previous monthly sales records in April. Sales activity dropped in May from the previous month in about 70 percent of all markets, led by those in British Columbia and Ontario where the number of homes listed for sale has fallen to multi-year or all-time lows.”

Highlights of CREA's report    

• National home sales dropped 2.8% from April to May.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 9.6% compared to May 2015.
• The number of newly listed homes fell 3.2% from April to May.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 12.5% year-over-year in May.
• The national average sale price climbed 13.2% in May from one year ago; net of Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver, it advanced 9.1% year-over-year.

Read the entire report on Canadian MLS® sales for May, 2016.

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

Sales softened marginally this week as Saskatoon real estate agents reported just 90 firm residential deals to the multiple listing service®, down from 95 the previous week and well below the 108 units that traded hands during the same week last year. New listings also slipped lower, down just eight from last week to 232, roughly 17 fewer homes than were listed during the same period of time in 2015.

Active MLS® listings increased again and reached a new record high at 2140 homes. That’s up 43 from last week, for an annual gain of 69 Saskatoon homes. Inventory levels, while ahead of last year each week this year have fairly closely tracked last year’s activity. During the 2015 calendar year, active MLS® listings peaked at 2093. That happened next week in 2015. Are we near our peak for this year? It’s anybody’s guess, but it's typically around this time of year that inventory begins to decline. Today’s inventory shows 1147 single-family homes, up from 1129 last week and well down from the 1214 listings that were available to buyers on the same day a year ago. Condo inventory rises again, this week reaching 805 for a weekly increase of 30 for an annual increase of 134 units.

Strong activity at the upper end of the Saskatoon real estate market including two sales that averaged more than a million dollars each pushed the median for the week higher to $364,000 while the average sale price for the week soared to $386,962. Over the longer term, the six-week average price grew to $358,308 coming very close to reaching a new high for the year. It recorded a weekly gain of about nine thousand dollars to close the week down from a year ago by about twenty-five hundred dollars. The four-week median grew by thirty-five hundred dollars from last week to hit $337,400 for an annual loss of fourteen thousand dollars.

Two lucky sellers completed an above list contract with an average bonus of $2,850 while 78 buyers ground themselves a deal that netted an average discount of $13,949. Another ten sales closed at the seller’s asking price. 

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 following is a media release issued by the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® regarding residential sales and listing statistics for the month of May 2016. 

As was expected with high inventory levels and a six percent year-to-date decrease in home sales, the average and median price are seeing a slight decline. Year-to-date, the average residential selling price in the city of Saskatoon is down two percent to $346,371. The median price indicates a slightly greater reduction of 5.7 percent to $335,000.  "A slight decline in pricing was anticipated with just over 2,000 residential units for sale in Saskatoon,” comments Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. "The decrease in home sales is also a factor and could be caused by lower demand or asking prices that do not reflect the market, turning away potential buyers”, he adds. 

The five-year average for active listings at this time of year is 1,633 units. Based on the sales activity in May, it would take just over 5 months to liquidate the current inventory. Properties that have been selling are selling within 97.2 percent of their asking price and in an average time of 45 days. The five-year average for the number of days to sell is 37. The sales-to-listing ratio is determined by dividing the number of sales for the month by the number of new listings. At the end of May, the sales-to-listing ratio was 41% which is considered to be a buyer’s market. The five-year average for the sales-to-listing ratio is 48%, which represents a market that would be considered "balanced".

Market activity in the area and communities surrounding Saskatoon appears to be slightly more challenged. The total number of sales year-to-date was 388 at the end of May, a decrease of twenty percent compared to the same period last year. The average selling price of $309,099 is down three percent from 2015, comparable to that of Saskatoon. 

Year-to-date, Martensville saw a total number of sales at 67 representing a seven percent decrease from the same time last year. Warman, on the other hand, experienced a 52 percent decrease in sales for the first five months of 2016 when compared to the 169 sales last year. 

The total number of properties available for sale in Warman at the end of May was 209 which would take a year to liquidate at the current rate of sales. Comparatively, Martensville had 159 listings available representing just over seven months of inventory. The average time required to sell a home for these two cities is 45 days.

"It is important to keep in mind that houses are selling in all price ranges, the key to realizing a sale in a short period of time at 97 percent of asking price is to get sound advice on where a particular home fits in the market based on its condition and location compared to its competition,” advises Yochim.

Jason Yochim CAE, CRAE Chief Executive Officer – Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®

Saskatoon real estate agents kept busy this week with slightly stronger sales and very brisk listing activity as typical month-end expired listings were added to the multiple listing service® for another go. Residential unit sales grew to 95 this week, for an increase of just five compared to the previous week, and up from 87 last year, for the first year-over-year sales increase since late May. At the same time, 240 new listings were added to the MLS® to beat last week’s numbers by 50 homes. While that number is certainly big, it falls short of matching the number of new listings generated during the same week last year when 269 Saskatoon homes were added.

The total number of Saskatoon homes showing an active status took its first drop since the end of April as it slid lower to 2097, down from 2134 a week ago to close with an annual increase of just 56. Single-family home inventory slipped a fair bit lower and dropped by 32 units when compared to the previous week’s close. Today there are 1129 detached houses available to buyers, down from roughly 1200 a year ago. The number of condominiums available on the MLS® system also fell lower to settle at 775, well up from the 644 that were for sale last year at this time.

On the heels of a pretty substantial bounce last week, both the weekly median price and the weekly average price of a Saskatoon home slipped lower to $323,900 and $341,868 respectively. The four-week median price was also down. It fell $2300 from last week to $333,900 to finish below last year’s number of $351,400. The six-week average price continued to inch higher as it closed the week at $349,753 for an annual loss of about 10K.

Overbids came in at just three this week, those deals paying the sellers an average bonus of $2117. The vast majority of this week’s deals (85) required the seller to give a bit as those buyers won an average discount of $10,715. Another seven transactions closed at the seller’s asking price.

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