Happy new year!

As always, the closing week of the year was one of the slowest of the year for unit sales. On the brighter side, this quiet period does typically mark the end of the declining sales cycle, and from here we can expect slow and steady increases until the market reaches its peak sales week in either April, May or June. This past week, Saskatoon real estate agents reported just 26 firm residential sales to the multiple listing service®, down 20 from the previous week, a drop of two from the closing week of 2015. New listing activity was also predictably soft with just 20 new listings being added to the MLS® for a weekly decline of 50 units. That’s also 28 fewer listings than were added during the same week last year.

There are some interesting changes to report on the inventory front. For the first time since mid-August, the total number of Saskatoon homes available for purchase on the local MLS® system finished higher than it was a year earlier. It’s worth noting that the closing week of 2015 actually ended on January 2 so all of the month-end expired listings had already come out of the totals. Still, even if all of the 112 MLS listings that are scheduled to expire today actually do expire (assuming some are not extended for a longer period before they expire) we are up on an annual basis. Today there are 1560 active residential listings on the system. At the close of this week last year those numbers had fallen to 1432. Today’s inventory includes 820 single-family homes, up from 806 a year ago. There are presently 606 active condo listings, well ahead of the 480 that could be found on the MLS at the close of the year’s final week of 2015.

Like the previous week, upper-end real estate sales carried the day. They also carried average prices for the week substantially higher. Obviously, with just 26 sales, a few big ones can really skew the data. Even while the weekly median price managed to fall lower to $331,900 the weekly average price of the homes that traded was a whopping $394,969 which is higher than it has been during any week this year. The six-week average price dropped two thousand dollars from last week to $339,630 and finished the year down by about 15K from a year ago. The four-week median price grew by $2400 from a week earlier to $338,000 and closed the year two thousand dollars behind annually.

While two sellers were lucky enough to find a buyer willing to pay their asking price, the remaining 24 had to give up some cash to close their deal. Those transactions came in below the asking price by an average of $12,976.

As we wrap up 2016, I’d like to thank those who took the time to show up here for updates on our market. I’m especially pleased that so many of you turned to us for some guidance in getting your home sold this year. It really has been a great pleasure to serve you, even during one of our more challenging markets. I expect 2017 to continue to be an uphill battle for sellers but we will continue to show up daily and do the work.

Once again, happy new year to you and yours.

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 were strong this past week with 46 firm deals being reported to the local multiple listing service®. That’s down five from last week but well ahead of the 26 deals reported over the same period last year. New listings fell lower to 70, down from 116 last week and significantly stronger than the 41 homes that were listed during the same week last year.

The total number of active residential listings in the MLS® database slipped by 42 units from the close of the previous week to 1620. That represents a year-over-year decline of just 26 homes for the smallest drop in months. Today, there are 848 single family homes for sale on the MLS, down from 913 a year ago. Condo inventory sits at 629, up from 568 a year ago.

Fewer entry-level buyers showed up this week, and consequently, both the weekly median price and the weekly average took gains to $340,000 and $331,541 respectively. The six-week average price fell lower to $341,752 for a weekly drop of three thousand dollars and an annual loss of roughly 13K. After five consecutive weekly declines, the four-week median price grew by more than five thousand dollars to $335,622 to finish lower than it was last year by about eight thousand dollars.

Six sellers did manage to get a full price offer. All of those were new homes. The remaining 40 sellers gave up some cash at the negotiated table providing their buyer an average discount of $12,976.

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 activity continued to follow a typical seasonal pattern as residential unit sales fell by three compared to last week for a total of 51 trades, five more than were conducted during the same week last year. Meanwhile, the number of new listings added to the Saskatoon MLS® remained stable at 116, a change of just one from last week, beating last year’s number by 16 homes.

The total number of active residential listings on the multiple listing service® slipped marginally lower from 1687 at the close of the previous week to 1662 today. That comes in short of last year’s levels by a mere 26 homes. It would appear that this year is about to wrap up with as much inventory as we had at the close of 2015. There are some shifts within the major housing types, however. For instance, single-family homes inventory sits at 866 today, down from 926 a year ago. Condo inventory has grown from 583 a year ago to 649 today. Construction on a large number of new units has wrapped up in the past couple of months and that’s likely what’s been pushing the condominium numbers higher.

Entry-level activity dominated the sales board this week with eight sales at prices below $200,000 and only two that topped $500K. The weekly median price slipped to $310,000 to find itself at its lowest point in a few months time. The weekly average sale price of a Saskatoon home fell more to $321,605. The six-week average sale price stayed fairly stable dropping just $900 from last week to $344,903 to find itself down ten thousand dollars on an annual basis. The four-week median price took its fourth consecutive weekly decline and finished the week at $329,900 for an annual loss of seventeen thousand dollars.

Buyers won the week at the negotiating table as 48 of them wrapped up a deal below the asking price by an average of $12,450. Another two paid the full asking price. Finally, one excited buyer closed their deal with a $30,100 overbid, no doubt leaving their seller feeling particularly lucky going into the holidays.

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 November, 2016 today.

According to the CREA, “The number of homes trading hands via Canadian MLS® Systems declined 5.3 percent month-over-month in November 2016. This represents the largest monthly decline in activity since August 2012. As a result, the number of homes changing hands now stands at the lowest level since September 2015."

“November was the first full month in which the expanded stress-test was in effect for home buyers with less than a twenty percent down payment,” said CREA President Cliff Iverson. “The government’s newly tightened mortgage regulations have dampened a wide swath of housing markets, including places not targeted directly by the government’s latest regulatory measures. The extent to which they pushed first-time home buyers to the sidelines varies among housing markets. All real estate is local, and REALTORS® remain your best source for information about sales and listings where you live or might like to in the future.”

Highlights of CREA's report    

• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity remained 1.6% above levels in November 2015.
• The number of newly listed homes edged down 0.4% from October to November.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in November was up 14.4% year-over-year (y-o-y).
• The national average sale price climbed 7.3% y-o-y in November.

  Read the entire report on Canadian MLS® sales for November, 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

The number of Saskatoon homes that traded hands over the past week fell 14 from the previous week to 54 units, just enough to match sales for the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number of new listings added to the multiple listing service® slipped lower, just as we would expect, given the season. Saskatoon real estate agents brought 117 new listings to the MLS®, down ten from last week, and almost 30 fewer than were added during the same week last year.

The inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category inched lower to 1687, down from 1706 a week earlier, and not far below last year’s levels when the system displayed 1739 Saskatoon homes to prospective buyers. There are 899 single-family homes for sale today, down from 915 last week, and 948 a year ago. Condo inventory slipped just two from a week earlier to settle at 638, up 34 units from a year earlier.

The split between upper and lower end activity was unchanged from the week before. Consequently, the weekly median price remained unchanged at $327,500. Some slightly larger sale price in the top 50 percent of sales did push the average price for the period higher by 10K as it closed the week at $348,917. For the third consecutive week, the six-week average price made modest gains as it grew to $344,973 and finished roughly seventeen thousand dollars lower than it was at the close of the same week last year. The four-week median continued to move in a downward direction for the third week in a row as it slipped two thousand dollars to $335,000 to find itself down fifteen thousand dollars annually.

Five sellers managed to close a full-price deal this week, and one got so lucky as to find a buyer who paid more than the asking price by close to 10K. The remaining 48 sales were reported to have sold at a price below the list price netting those buyers an average discount of $13,489.

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 month of November saw a decline in sales activity as well as new listings coming on the market in Saskatoon and region. Total dollar volume year-to-date was $1.65 billion, a four percent reduction from 2015, and 18 percent lower than the same period in 2014.

The number of homes that sold in Saskatoon for November was 243 units representing a 14 percent reduction compared to November 2015. As of the end of last month, there was a cumulative total of 3,489 home sales, seven percent lower than a year ago.

The number of homes listed for sale to the end of November 2016 was 8,897. Currently, there are 1,687 residential properties available for sale in Saskatoon. Only the month of January had less product available with 1,612 units. At the current level of sales, it would take nearly seven months to liquidate this inventory.

The average selling price continues to remain virtually unchanged at just over $350,000. By comparison, two years ago the average selling price was $357,000, at a time when the market was more active. "An increase in sales of higher-end homes has helped to support the average price in the Saskatoon market," states Jason Yochim, CEO of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®.

Sales in every price range below $750,000 saw decreases in unit sales, however, homes priced above that increased year-over-year. 25 homes have sold for more than $1 million year-to-date this year compared to just 13 units a year ago. Homes in the price range between $750-800,000 were up 50 percent year-to-date for 2015.

The current sales to listing ratio for November was 37 percent which is firmly a buyer's market as it has been all year. Homes are taking 50 days on average to sell in Saskatoon with sellers realizing 97 percent of the asking price.

"These statistics tell me that sellers who price to the market will realize a sale in much less time than the average of 50 days and close to their asking price. Those who do not price to market are typically responsible for the low sales to listing ratio," says Yochim. "Buyers are more educated than at any other time and typically know where the market is at."

There are positives in this quieter real estate market. The recent selling out of the much-awaited River Landing condominium project in less than four days proves that location, location, location is key in any market conditions. This occurred in spite of an oversupplied condominium market with somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 multi-family units available for sale.

"The best advice I can give to those who are needing to sell is to get sound pricing, marketing and timing advice from a professionally licensed and trained REALTOR® member of The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. Real estate is local to specific markets in Saskatoon and every seller's situation is unique. Impartial and objective advice is critical in a successful sale of residential real estate," cautions Yochim. 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 CAE, CRAE Chief Executive Officer - Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®

After three consecutive weeks in which Saskatoon real estate sales fell lower on an annual basis, activity improved and local REALTORS® reported 68 firm residential deals to the MLS, an increase of 14 from last week, and up six when compared against sales for the same week last year. New listings surged higher as a good number of listings that expired at the end of November came back to the system for another go at the market. Over the course of the week, 146 new listings were added to the multiple listing service®, up 39 from last week’s totals to top listings generated for the same period last year by 23 homes.

With slightly stronger sales and listing expiries totalling 136 units, the inventory of residential MLS® listings fell by 100 units this week to 1709. That’s just 53 fewer homes than were available at this time a year ago. All of the declines can be credited to single-family homes inventory which sits at 915 today, down for 961 a year ago. Condo numbers are at 640, up from 596 a year ago.

Prices remained largely unchanged as the average sale price of a Saskatoon home inched up to $338,335 and the median slipped modestly to $327,500. The six-week average price moved up a couple of hundred dollars to $344,382 and recorded a year-over-year decline of twelve thousand dollars. The four-week median price slipped $3500 to close the week at $337,000 for an annual loss of eight thousand dollars.

A few lucky sellers found an eager buyer who agreed to pay more than the asking price when they were confronted with a little competition from another buyer. Those deals closed with an average overbid of $8,566. Meanwhile, another six homes sold for the full price, most of those were new homes. The remaining 59 sales went below the asking price netting an average discount of $13,585.

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