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Saskatoon real estate week in review: January 21-27, 2018


Sales activity in the Saskatoon real estate market continued to edge upwards this past week as local agents reported 56 firm residential sales to our MLS®. That number puts us up by just six sales from the previous week and matches the number of firm trades reported during the same period a year ago.


New listing activity moved lower as 132 residential properties were added to the Saskatoon multiple listing service® for a weekly drop of eight and an annual decline of 11. This is the fourth consecutive weeks during which new listings fell on an annual basis.


The inventory of real estate listings on the local MLS® once again failed to gain much ground. Total residential listings within the city of Saskatoon sit at 1536 today, up just 11 units from the close of the previous week, and down by 91 when looking back at numbers recorded at the close of the same week last year. Today, there are 812 detached single-family homes for sale on the Saskatoon MLS®, roughly the same number as last week, but down from a year ago by 44. Condo inventory remains high at 631, up 18 from a week earlier, and ahead by four compared to numbers recorded a year ago.


The most significant “inventory” change can be seen in the new condominium construction numbers. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) prepares a detailed report of the residential construction each month. The most recent CMHC report provides a detailed overview of where we are at, as of November 30, 2017. There are two numbers that I find interesting to watch, and that provide a bit of insight into how inventory may shape up in the future. The first is the number of condominiums that are currently under construction. There were 497 such units at 11/30/17, down 30 percent from a year earlier when builders were working on 712 units. The second telling stat is the number of units that are already completed but not yet occupied. There are now 311 units which meet that criteria, down 25 percent from a year ago when there were 433. This inventory is clearly being absorbed. We may even be on the home stretch in finding some balance between supply and demand, given that the season of highest demand is now just around the corner.


The numbers for new single-family homes are virtually unchanged from a year ago. Meanwhile, new housing starts are up just a touch suggesting that a reasonably good balance between supply and demand already exists in this category.


With fewer sales in the mix during these early weeks of the year, prices continue to bounce around. This week, there were far fewer sales at the entry level and much more activity at the upper end. This change drove the weekly average sale price of a Saskatoon home sharply higher to $366,323. The weekly median went in the same direction closing the week at $339,500. The six-week average price edged up nearly five thousand dollars from the week before to reach $342,468 for an annual increase of roughly 2K. The four-week median price closed the period at $330,000 showing no weekly change and recording an annual decline of seven thousand dollars.


Once again, overbid sales were non-existent. On the other hand, 52 of this week’s closed deals were reported to have sold below the asking price with a hefty average discount of $15,990, one of the highest we’ve seen in awhile. This is at least partly attributable to a large number of expensive homes that traded. They often produce the largest discounts skewing that number higher.


Here is a breakdown of what the sales to listing price ratio looked like on this week’s sales. Please note that those sales that do show a sale price that is greater than the list price are all new properties that spent some period of time on the market, and most likely included additional improvements that were not reflected in the original list price. We report these to you as “at list price sales”, which is likely too generous in some cases, but it’s simply not practical to obtain the full details of each sale.



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: January 14-20, 2018

Saskatoon real estate sales grew for the third consecutive week as local REALTORS® reported 48 firm residential deals to the multiple listing service®. That amounts to a weekly gain of 16 sales and brings us the first year-over-year increase of this calendar year. There were 38 unconditional trades reported during the same period of 2017. This week’s gains go a long way in mitigating the annual losses recorded over the previous two weeks.


The number of new listings added to the MLS® system slipped lower on both a weekly and an annual basis. A total of 140 Saskatoon homes were added to the inventory this week, down from 156 last week, and well below the 167 listings that were offered for sale during the same week last year.


The total number of homes for sale on Saskatoon on the multiple listing service® was nearly unchanged from a week earlier. As of this morning, there are 1525 active Saskatoon real estate listings in the residential category, up just three from the previous week. That’s 93 fewer homes for sale than were available at the same time a year ago, the lowest number recorded for this week in three years, and the third consecutive year-over-year decline to the database. A closer look at the major housing categories shows that buyers have 813 single-family homes to choose from, down three from last week, and below levels recorded at this time last year by 37. Condo inventory saw some gains this week as the number of units for sale grew by six to reach 613 for an annual decrease of 13.


You may recall that our last weekly report included an impressive amount of activity at the upper end of the market. More than 25 percent of the week’s sales were reported to have sold above $500,000. This week, less than ten percent of sales reached that level. On top of that, 25 percent of this week’s sales were priced below $200,000. These factors brought the weekly median and the average price tumbling lower to $281,750 (down 90K from last week) and $313,121 (down almost 70K) respectively. Neither the six-week average price, not the four-week median price were spared, though those declines were much more modest. The former slipped six thousand dollars from last week to finish two thousand dollars higher than it did at this time last year, while the latter fell five thousand dollars for the week, to claim an annual increase of fourteen thousand dollars.


Sellers hoping for a sale above asking price were left out in the cold this week, while six sellers reposted a sale at full asking. The vast majority of this week’s sales required some give on the seller’s side. Those deals were reported to have sold below list price with an average discount of $13,422.


Here is a breakdown of what the sales to listing price ratio looked like on this week’s sales. Please note that those sales that do show a sale price that is greater than the list price are all new properties that spent some period of time on the market, and most likely included additional improvements that were not reflected in the original list price. We report these to you as “at list price sales”, which is likely too generous in some cases, but it’s simply not practical to obtain the full details of each sale. 



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 December 2017 this week.

Home sales via Canadian MLS® Systems posted their fifth consecutive monthly increase in December 2017, fully recovering from the slump last summer.

Highlights of CREA's report

  • National home sales rose 4.5% from November to December.
  • Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 4.1% year-over-year.
  • The number of newly listed homes climbed 3.3% from November to December.
  • The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in December was up 9.1% year-over-year.
  • The national average sale price advanced by 5.7% year-over-year.

Read the entire report on Canadian MLS® sales for December of 2017.


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: January 7-13, 2018
The Saskatoon real estate market continued at a sluggish pace through the past week during which just 32 firm residential sales were reported to the multiple listing service®. While that’s four deals more than we saw the previous week, it’s a ten unit drop when compared to the same period of 2017, and the second year-over-year decline in as many weeks. A soft start, but one shouldn’t read much into these weeks when activity is simply weak. 32. 42. Weak.

New listings continued to make rapid headway as 156 residential properties were added to the system over the past seven days. That’s nearly 40 more than we saw enter the market during the previous week, and twelve fewer than were listed during the same week last year.


The number of Saskatoon homes for sale on the local MLS® grew by 52 from last week’s close finishing the week at 1522, which is down from 1570 a year ago. This is the second consecutive week in which active listing inventory fell from a year earlier, notable only because this has been a rare occurrence over the past two and a half years. Inventory numbers are at their lowest point for this particular week since 2015, and overall at their second lowest point since the closing week of 2015 (they were lower last week), but again, there are many weeks of growth to the MLS® database ahead of us this year and not much should be drawn from these numbers. Today, there are 817 detached houses (single-family homes) available to Saskatoon home buyers, down from 827 a year ago. Condo inventory saw the greatest growth this week as the total number available moved higher to 607 units, up just two annually.


With 25 percent of the week’s sales activity occurring in the over $500,000 price range, both the weekly average price and the median price took some solid gains to $381,665 and $371,500 respectively. The six-week average price grew by eight thousand dollars compared to last week to close this period at $343,719. That amounts to an annual gain of more than five thousand dollars. The four-week median price grew by a whopping seventeen thousand dollars from a week earlier to $335,000 and reached its highest point since September. This is also the first week in ten that the measure has been up from a year earlier. At the close of the second week of January last year, the four-week median price was lower than it is was this week by six thousand dollars.


One fortunate seller with a beautifully renovated home in area four found themselves looking at multiple offers that drove their closing price above the list price. A couple of others got what they were asking, while 29 of the week’s 32 sales required some give on the seller’s part. Those deals closed at an average discount of $17,049 with a handful of pretty big drops in the mix.


Here is a breakdown of what the sales to listing price ratio 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

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Saskatoon Home Prices Continue to Decline in Fourth Quarter of 2017: Royal LePage


Surplus of inventory and low commodity prices contribute to home price depreciation across the region


SASKATOON, January 10, 2018 – According to the Royal LePage House Price Survey1 released today, home prices in Saskatoon saw moderate declines in the final quarter of 2017, with the aggregate price of a home in the region dipping 2.2 per cent year-over-year to $377,222.


When broken out by housing category, the median price of a two-storey home decreased 0.4 per cent year-over-year to $410,819 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while the median price of a bungalow decreased 4.6 per cent to $338,854.


“The decrease in home prices that we saw in Saskatoon in the final quarter of the year comes down to a high level of available inventory, especially in the bungalow segment of the market,” said Norm Fisher, broker and owner, Royal LePage Vidorra.


“In recent months, we have seen a surplus of activity at price points below $350,000 that has boosted the market, but not enough to keep prices from sliding.


“We continue to struggle with low commodity prices. When they are down, our housing market is impacted significantly,” continued Fisher. “We have seen layoffs in the potash and uranium industries, keeping our unemployment rate above the national average. However, we do see improvements on the horizon. Saskatoon has great inventory at an affordable price point for first-time buyers to choose from, providing them with attractive options and time to make an informed decision.”


Nationally, Canada’s residential real estate market saw strong, but slowing year-over-year price growth in the fourth quarter of 2017. The Royal LePage National House Price Composite, compiled from proprietary property data in 53 of the nation’s largest real estate markets, showed that the price of a home in Canada increased 10.8 per cent year-over-year to $626,042 over the three-month period. When broken out by housing type, the median price of a two-storey home rose 11.1 per cent year-over-year to $741,924, and the median price of a bungalow climbed 7.1 per cent to $522,963. During the same period, the median price of a condominium appreciated faster than any other housing type studied, rising 14.3 per cent to $420,823 on a year-over-year basis.


“To prospective homeowners in our largest cities, condominiums represent the last bastion of affordability,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage.


“This is especially true for first-time buyers whose purchasing power has been reduced by tightening mortgage regulations.”


In line with Royal LePage’s previous Market Survey Forecast, Royal LePage predicts that the price of a home in Canada will increase 4.9 per cent by the end of 2018. Looking ahead, the company anticipates that the new OSFI stress test will slow the housing market in the first half of 2018, as buyers adjust their expectations and many market participants take a “wait and see” approach.


“The unsustainably high rates of home price appreciation witnessed in recent years in B.C. and Ontario were dangerous to the stability of not only the housing market but to the broader economy itself,” continued Soper. “Policy measures like the OSFI stress test will quell runaway housing inflation to an extent. However, we do foresee an upswing in demand in the latter portion of the year, as prospective buyers adjust to the new realities. To put it another way, the demand is still there.” 


Read also: Global News - Housing prices in Saskatoon continue to drop

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: December 31, 2017 - January 6, 2018

Happy new year to you!


We are officially out of the gate for a brand new year of weekly Saskatoon real estate sales data updates.


The number of Saskatoon homes that traded through the MLS® system grew by 75 percent over the previous week! That sounds more impressive than it actually is, however. Total residential sales came in at just 28, up from 16 last week, and down from 30 for the same week last year.


The new listing activity also took some gains as they now begin an upward climb that will see increases during most weeks through the first half of 2018. Saskatoon real estate agents brought 117 new listings to the multiple listing service®, up from 87 last week, but way, way down from the opening week of 2017 when 198 new listings hit the system.


Weak new listing numbers and a big whack of home listings that met the end of their term as we ushered in the new year brought inventory down significantly. As of this morning, MLS® listings in the residential category had fallen to just 1469. That’s the lowest number for this particular week since 2015, and in fact, the lowest number of active listings for any week since the close of the 2015 calendar year when they sat at 1432. As the week ended, inventory was down 138 units from last week’s close, and below levels recorded at the close of the same week last year by 68. Could this be the beginning of the end for high inventory levels? That story will unfold and become clear over the next 60 to 90 days as we ramp up for the spring market. As of today, Saskatoon home buyers can find 808 single-family homes displaying an active status, down 70 from last week but up three from a year ago. Condo inventory is at 582 for an annual decline of 18.


Once again, these weeks with very few sales don’t tell much of a story in any of our data measures, especially price. This week we see both the weekly average selling price, and the weekly median price tumble to $312,250 and $266,900 respectively, with nearly half of this week’s sales reporting a price below $250K. The six-week average price edged lower by five thousand dollars compared to the week before to close this period at $335,890. That’s down by about three thousand dollars compared to the opening week of the previous year. The four-week median price fell sixty-five hundred dollars from where it sat last week to finish this week at $317,750 for a year-over-year decline of seventeen thousand dollars.


Even though the weather was cold and there was little heat in the market itself, one lucky seller must have found themselves looking at competing offers as they sold their home for $100 above asking price. The remaining 27 sales required some give on the sellers part. They were reported to have sold at an average discount of $14,378.

Here is a breakdown of what the sales to listing price ratio 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

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In spite of a strong December, Saskatoon real estate market sees a drop in sales in 2017: SRAR

A media release from the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® with an overview of residential MLS® sales and listing activity for the month of December 2017 follows.


The number of Saskatoon home sales for December came in at 205 units, up 11 percent compared to the same month in 2016. Sales activity in the area surrounding Saskatoon saw a 13 percent increase. These gains could be partially attributed to the mortgage rule changes that took effect on January 1st of 2018. Home buyers with a downpayment of 20 percent or more now have to qualify at an interest rate that is 200 basis points higher than the posted rate, or the Bank of Canada’s five-year rate, whichever is higher.


A five-year history of Saskatoon home sales through the MLS to December 31, 2017



Listing activity, on the other hand, declined dramatically with an 18 percent reduction in new listings for the month, year-over-year. “This decrease in listing activity could be the result of seller’s fatigue from having been on the market for an extended time period without securing an offer,” according to Jason Yochim, CEO of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR). “The increase in December sales and decline in new listings is a positive for decreasing high inventory levels,” he added.


A five-year history of Saskatoon real estate listings (new and active) to December 31, 2017



Not surprisingly, with lower sales and a large inventory of homes to choose from, home prices continued to see downward pressure. The median price for a home in Saskatoon declined by 3.3 percent from last December to $324,000 while the average price showed a half point decline to $339,520. The Home Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark value declined by 3.7 percent to $295,100, its lowest point since March of 2012. The HPI composite value has been in an overall decline since August of 2016 when it was $317,600.


A five year history of Saskatoon home prices, by category, to December 31, 2017



On average, it took 61 days to sell a Saskatoon home in December, up sharply from 51 for the same month last year.


The year-to-date story for 2017 is one of a slower market when compared to 2016. The total dollar volume for this year’s sales came in just shy of $1.6 billion, a nine percent decrease from 2016. This was the third straight year of decline since the Saskatoon market peaked with a sales volume of $2.1 billion in 2014. Saskatoon home sales totaled 3,491 units in 2017, a five percent decline from 2016, and significantly lower than the five-year average of 3,957 sales. In 2017 there were a total of 8,972 homes listed for sale within Saskatoon, a three percent decline from the previous year. The sales-to-listing ratio (percentage of listings that became firmly sold while listed for sale) for the year was 35 percent. In other words, roughly a third of the homes listed actually ended up selling.


“Successfully selling a home in this current market requires more than information,” comments Yochim. “Sellers need the guidance of a REALTOR® to understand how historical sales data impacts their pricing decision.”


For further information, please contact:

Jason Yochim CAE, CRAE

Chief Executive Officer

Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®

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