Saskatoon real estate agents had a busy week with 74 residential sales being reported to the multiple listing service®, well up from 61 the previous week, but slightly below numbers generated during the same week last year when 78 sales occurred. The number of new residential listings added to the Saskatoon MLS® fell sharply to just 132 for a weekly decline of 33. This week’s residential listing numbers fell short of those recorded during the same period a year earlier by 30 homes.

Total active listings for sale on the Saskatoon MLS® slipped lower for the fifth consecutive week but once again settled in above the two thousand mark, most likely for the final time this year. Inventory typically declines as a new month is ushered in and month-end expired listings come off of the system. This week closed with 2006 active residential listings within the Saskatoon city limits, down 14 from a week earlier, but well ahead of the 1832 Saskatoon homes offered for sale on the system a year earlier. The number of single-family homes for sale slipped by 11 units from last week’s close to 1179 and recorded a year-over-year increase of 184 properties. The number of Saskatoon condos for sale fell by just three over the week to 712, an annual increase of 46 units.

Slightly strengthened activity at the upper end of the Saskatoon real estate market, including a sale at $1.2 million pushed prices higher in three of the four measures that we track and report to you. The average sale price of a Saskatoon home came in at $329,836 and the weekly median price grew to $305,125. The four-week median price jumped eighteen thousand dollars this week to rise from its annual lows and reach $325,000. That’s still eight thousand dollars lower than it was a year earlier. The six-week average price bucked the trend and slipped lower from the previous week when it had already reached an annual low. It fell another 10K to close the week at $324,733. That number is about twenty five thousand dollars lower than it was a year ago.

Surprisingly, three deals closed above the seller’s asking price this week netting tidy bonuses averaging $5400. Another five sales closed at the full asking price. Meanwhile, 66 of this week’s 74 sales record a price below the list price by an average of $14,002. That number was somewhat skewed by a $140,000 discount on the largest sale of the week mentioned in the previous paragraph of this post.

Here is a breakdown of what the sales to listing price ration looked like on this week’s sales.

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 in the residential category took a small weekly dip dropping to 61 from 65 the previous week. The year-over-year change in sales numbers was not so small. Local agents reported 103 sales for the same period last year, a week which stood out as a bit of an anomaly in comparison to the sales numbers that surrounded it. Following a seven day period that saw 181 listings expire from the system without a deal in place, new listings were very strong at 175, up 33 from last week and down two from the same week last year.

The number of residential listings showing an active status on the Saskatoon MLS® continued to decline for the fourth consecutive week and reached 2020 by this morning. That number is down just 17 from last week’s close, for an annual increase of 151 homes. A closer look at the major housing categories shows 715 Saskatoon condos for sale, down from 733 a week earlier, and up from 688 a year ago. There are now 1190 single-family detached homes on the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, down one from last week’s close for an annual increase of 168 properties.

Very soft activity for homes priced above the $400,000 mark brought the median and average prices for the week down to $296,900 and $307,215 respectively. The six-week average price fell six thousand dollars to $334,212 to reach its lowest point this year. In fact, that’s the lowest that it’s been during any week since early 2013. That number amounts to an annual decline of $18,558. After sliding steadily for three consecutive weeks to reach its lowest point in nearly five years, the four-week median price took a slight upward turn and grew by a bit more than $1500 to $307,450 to take a year-over-year loss of $27,550.

A couple of hot listings in “Area 2” saw some overbids this week netting those sellers an average bonus of $1,100 while three others found a buyer willing to pay their asking price. Meanwhile, 56 of this week’s 61 sales reported a price below the seller’s list price with an average discount shown of $12,500.

Here is a breakdown of what the sales to listing price ration looked like on each of those 61 deals.

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

Residential sales activity improved slightly on a weekly basis and fell modestly when compared to the same week a year ago as Saskatoon real estate agents reported 65 firm deals to the MLS®. That’s up four from last week and down three from the same period last year.

New listing activity fell significantly this week with just 142 Saskatoon homes being added to the multiple listing service®, putting the week among the softest listings weeks for the calendar year. That number marks a weekly decline of 78 and an annual drop of 35.

The inventory of MLS® listings available to Saskatoon home buyers moved lower for the third consecutive week to settle at 2037 by this morning for a weekly decline of 30 homes. Inventory remains up on a year-over-year basis showing gains of 134 from a year ago. Active listings levels are moderating at about the pact they did last year, but more quickly than they did in 2015. If the current trend continues for a couple of more weeks we’ll be out of that “highest inventory ever for this particular week” thing soon. Today’s totals show 1191 single-family homes for sale, down from 1220 last week and up from 1040 a year ago. There are currently 733 condominiums showing an active status on the MLS®, down just two from a week earlier and up from 690 at this time last year.

A good showing of home buyers purchasing above the $400,000 market drove the weekly median and the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher this week. This weekly measures came in a $350,000 and $340,312 respectively. After falling thirteen thousand dollars over the previous two weeks the six-week average price turned upwards. It finished the week at $340,446 for a weekly increase of roughly 2K but it remains lower than it was a year ago by fifteen thousand dollars. The four-week median price took its fifth consecutive drop and fell to $305,900. I had to go way, way back to April of 2012 to find a week where it came in lower. It seems to me, that more than anything this sudden and sharp drop is attributable to a big decline in upper-end sales. In the past four weeks only 16 residential sales in Saskatoon have topped the $500,000 mark. These buyers are clearly standoffish.

For the second week in a row, not a single buyer offered to pay more than the seller’s asking price. On the other hand, 62 of 65 sales reported this week show a price below the listed price with an average discount of just $11,446.

We are clearly operating in a market where buyers have considerable advantages at the negotiating table. This does seem to be pushing prices lower, but by how much is a big question. The recent Royal LePage House Survey release shows declines of a few percentage points over the past year (in two very popular housing types), while the MLS® Home Price Index shows gains, a claim which seems remarkably unbelievable given the disparity between supply and demand. In any case, it’s interesting to note that regardless of the market, there rarely seems to be a big spread between asking prices and selling prices. You may have noticed that average discounts don’t change a whole lot from one week to the next. When prices do move lower, it almost always starts with the listing price. Buyers tend to respond with reasonable offers on the homes that they perceive to be priced for the market. Of course, there is the odd exception to that rule, but for the most part, we see this at play in both buyer’s markets and seller’s markets. I thought you might find it interesting to see an actual comparison of list prices from the past week and the sale prices that those same homes achieved. Here is this week’s list.

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 activity fell from last week but managed to post some annual gains for the first time in eight weeks. Local REALTORS® reported a total of 61 firm residential sales, down from 70 the previous week, but up from 54 when compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number of new listings added to the MLS® grew to 219, the highest number seen during any single week since mid-July. This high listing level can be largely attributed to renewals for some of the near 200 listings that expired without a sale over the closing days of September.

Total active residential listings available to Saskatoon home buyers through the multiple listing service® reached their lowest level since June as the number moderated to 2067. That’s 50 fewer homes than were available a week earlier, but still well ahead of the 1920 properties for sale a year earlier. Most of the weekly decline was in single-family homes category which fell from 1264 last week to 1220 by Saturday morning. That leaves us up from a year earlier by 171 houses. Condo inventory sits at 735 today, down from 745 last week and up from 703 at this time last year.

With decent sales activity in all price ranges below 500K the weekly median price grew by nearly $50,000 from a week earlier to $335,000 while the average price of a Saskatoon home increased to $327,258. Still, both of our longer term price measures fell lower this week. The six-week average price of a local home slipped to $338,287. That’s about $26,000 below its annual peak, and just a few thousand dollars above its lowest point for the year which was recorded in mid-February. Looking back a year ago, we see a six-week average price that was fourteen thousand dollars higher than it is today. A significant decline in high end real estate sales over several weeks has ushered the four-week median price lower for the fourth consecutive week to its lowest point this year, $308,500. That’s roughly ten percent lower than it was at the close of the same week last year.

Sellers dreaming of an above list price offer had their hopes dashed this week. Eight lucky sellers managed to close a deal at their asking price, while 53 of the week’s 61 sales were reported to have sold at a discount that averaged $12,700.

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