Saskatoon real estate sales in the residential category bounced back this week. By the close of business Friday, local agents had reported 86 firm residential sales for the period, up 13 from the previous week, but falling short of sales for the same week last year by four.

The number of new listings added to the MLS® system moved lower for the second week in a row. A total of 176 properties were introduced to Saskatoon home buyers, down from 205 last week, and lower than the 184 that came up for sale during the same period last year.

sales

The total number of Saskatoon real estate listings on the MLS® in the residential category grew by 48 to reach 2131, the highest point this year, and just slightly lower than the numbers of homes that were available at this time last year, when there were 2153 active residential listings. For the past 16 weeks inventory has been sitting at its lowest point for each week in four years time. In the previous years, June’s expired listings had already come out of the inventory numbers before we took our measurement. That didn’t happen this year because June 30 fell on the Saturday. Next week we should see a bit of a reversal as last month’s expired listings will show up then. Today’s totals include 1155 single-family homes, down from 1193 last year and 847 condos, up from 804 at the close of the same week in 2017.

actives

A little more activity at the entry level of the market ushered the median sale price for the week lower to $314,000. The average sale price inched higher growing by 2K from last week to reach $326,872. The six-week average price saw similar gains as it grew from $330,549 last week to $$332,311. That’s still sixteen thousand dollars below last year’s number. The four-week median price inched up nine hundred dollars from last week to $324,900 to finish the week down on an annual basis by eighty-five hundred dollars.

prices

Four Saskatoon home buyers found themselves in a bidding war that led them to make an above list price offer, though all four were pretty modest overbids averaging just $175. Meanwhile, 78 sellers gave up some dough to close a deal with the average discount coming in at $11,047.

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.

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More weekly stats and numbers for those who love them.

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Thank-you for reading TeamFisher’s Saskatoon Real Estate Week in Review.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  Please feel free to call or text me at 306-241-6676 or reach me by email at norm at teamfisher dot com.

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

Coming off of the strongest sales week this year, the Saskatoon real estate market cooled considerably as the number of firm trades reported to the multiple listing service® slipped to just 73, a decline of 30 from the previous week, and down an equal amount when compared to the same week a year ago. New residential listings also fell lower as 205 Saskatoon homes were added to the MLS®, down from 222 the week before, but up from 197 from the same period the year before.

sales

The number of residential listings available to Saskatoon home buyers through the multiple listing service® grew to 2083 before listing activity resumed on Saturday morning. That represents an increase of 60 units compared to the previous week’s close, and a drop of 140 from the close of the same week last year. That’s the smallest year-over-year drop to the inventory since January. A closer look by major housing categories shows a total of 1114 single-family homes showing an active status, well up from 1071 at last week’s close, and down from 1224 a year ago. Available condo properties are at 838, unchanged from the previous week, and up 10 from a year ago.

actives

A stable spread of sales activity between the upper and lower end of the Saskatoon real estate market kept the weekly median sale price of a Saskatoon home from moving much. It rose just 3K from the previous week to reach $323,000. The average sale price didn’t move much either. It came in at $324,710. The six-week average price edged slightly lower, dropping about two thousand dollars from the previous week’s close, finishing the week at $330,549. That’s close to eighteen thousand dollars lower than it was a year ago. The four-week median price dropped a thousand dollars from last week to settle at $324,000. That’s high enough to claim the first year-over-year increase ($2,000) we’ve seen on this measure since the first week of April.

prices

Three sellers attracted offers for more than they were asking. One wild overbid of $60,000 on a City Park home skewed the average discount wildly high to $20,803. While 13 buyers agreed to pay the seller’s asking price, 87 insisted on a deal and ground themselves a discount averaging $12,253.

A full 64 of this week’s sales were reported to have sold below the seller’s asking price, and generating a pretty large average discount that amounted to $14,586. Just one lucky seller saw an overbid sale and their bonus came in at just $100.

More weekly stats and numbers for those who love them.

general

Thank-you for reading TeamFisher’s Saskatoon Real Estate Week in Review.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  Please feel free to call or text me at 306-241-6676 or reach me by email at norm at teamfisher dot com.

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

The Saskatoon real estate market recorded its highest volume sales week for the year as local agents reported 103 residential sales for the period, up from 77 last week, and even topping sales for the same week a year earlier when 90 Saskatoon homes traded hands.

New listings also came on strong at 222 units but fell short of breaking any records for the year. Still, that number is up from 209 the week before and 203 for the same period last year.

Sales

The inventory of active MLS® listings grew by just 24 this week to reach 2023 by this morning. This is its first appearance above the 2K line this year. At the close of the same week last year buyers had a selection of 2251 active listings to chose from. That particular week saw inventory reach its highest level that I ever recall it reaching. Today’s totals include1071 single-family homes, down from 1243 at this time last year, and 828 condos, down 14 units from a year earlier.

Actives

With this week’s highest-priced sale falling below the 600K mark, the weekly average sale price of a Saskatoon home slipped about 27 grand to $322,890. A fairly stable mix of sales at both the upper and lower end of the market kept the weekly median from sliding nearly as much, though it fell about five thousand dollars to $320,000. Meanwhile, the six-week average price slipped four thousand dollars from last week to settle at $332,450 down just $2500 annually. The four-week median price went up to $325,000 for a weekly gain of five thousand dollars and an annual drop of $7,450.

Price

Three sellers attracted offers for more than they were asking. One wild overbid of $60,000 on a City Park home skewed the average discount wildly high to $20,803. While 13 buyers agreed to pay the seller’s asking price, 87 insisted on a deal and ground themselves a discount averaging $12,253.

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.

List

More weekly stats and numbers for those who love them.

General

Thank-you for reading TeamFisher’s Saskatoon Real Estate Week in Review.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions.  Please feel free to call or text me at 306-241-6676 or reach me by email at norm at teamfisher dot com.

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), released national sales statistics for the month of May of 2018 today.

According to the report, "National home sales via Canadian MLS® Systems remained little changed in May 2018. Having edged 0.1% lower, it marked the lowest level for national sales activity in more than five years. Slightly more than half of all local housing markets reported fewer sales in May compared to April, led by the Okanagan region, Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley, together with the Durham region of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Quebec City. Declines in activity were offset by gains in Calgary, Thunder Bay, Brantford, London and St. Thomas, Oakville-Milton and the Quinte Region west of Kingston. A small increase in GTA sales also supported the national tally."

Highlights of CREA's report

• National home sales edged down 0.1% from April to May.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was down 16.2% from May 2017..
• The number of newly listed homes rose 5.1% from April to May.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) in May was up 1% year-over-year (y-o-y).

• The national average sale price declined by 6.4% y-o-y in May.

Read the entire report on Canadian MLS® sales for May of 2018.

CREA's updated Canadian housing forecast can also be found here.

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

It was one of those rare weeks in which sales increased on an annual basis. Saskatoon real estate agents processed a total of 77 firm home sales through our local MLS®, down nine from the previous week, but topping sales for the same period last year, also by nine. The number of new residential listings that were added to the multiple listing service® database remained steady at 209 to match last week’s numbers. That falls well short of the 260 Saskatoon homes that came up for sale during the same week in 2017.

For the 15th consecutive week, the number of residential properties offered for sale through the MLS® remained at four-year lows (comparing year-over-year numbers) even as they pushed higher from the previous week to close the period at 1999. That represents an increase of 44 listings from last week and an annual decline of 231 homes for sale. As usual, the majority of those inventory declines can be counted in the single-family homes category where total listings now sit at just 1061, down from 1243 a year ago. Condominium listings total 816 as of Saturday morning, down just slightly from 825 a year earlier.

There was some solid upper-end activity this week, included a sale that approached the $1.5 million dollar mark. However, with 31 sales reporting a price of less than $300,000 the weekly median price fell lower to $324,900 even as the average sale price for the period spiked higher and grew by more than 20K to reach $349,988. The upper-end activity was enough to move the six-week average price higher. It grew by four thousand dollars compared against last week’s number to finish the week down on an annual basis by just fourteen thousand dollars. That’s the smallest year-over-year decline we’ve seen in nearly two months time. Meanwhile, the four-week median price gave up last week’s gains and came back down to $320,000 which is now just thirteen thousand dollars below where it was a year ago, and also showing the smallest annual declines in a couple of months.

A little bit of competitive action led to three overbid sales this week, one paying the seller a $2100 bonus, and the other two coming in at just $100 over the list price. Some solid activity in new homes led to 10 sales being reported at the asking price. On the flip side of the negotiating table, 64 Saskatoon home buyers made off with a discount that averaged $14,560.

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

Fewer homeowners were ready to put their home on the market this year compared to last. In May, a total of 943 properties were added on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Saskatoon representing a nine percent decline from last May. Year-to-date, there have been 13 percent fewer homes listed in Saskatoon.

The total number of active listings in Saskatoon at the end of May was 2,001, just slightly above the five-year average of 1,945 units. “Typically we see the highest number of active listings between May and September,” comments Jason Yochim, CEO of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. “It’s the most active time in our market, largely due to favourable weather,” he added. Saskatoon MLS® inventory levels reached an all-time high in July of last year with 2,210 homes for sale. At the current rate of sales, it would take five and a half months to liquidate the current stock of active listings.

In May, there were 364 Saskatoon homes sold, a decrease of 13 percent from the same month last year. Year-to-date, sales for the city are down seven percent with a total of 1,345 residential MLS® home sales. So far this year, sales have declined in every price range with the exception of the under $200,000 range which saw a 30 percent increase with a total of 203 sales. The price range with the greatest decline in sales were homes priced between $450-500,000 with a year-to-date total of 85 sales, a 17 percent drop from last year. Homes selling between $750,000 and $1M are on par with last year at 19 sales. Sales with prices in excess of $1M however are off sharply with three just MLS® sales year-to-date. In 2017, there were three home sales in May alone over $1M and nine year-to-date.

The sales-to-listing ratio fell from 43 percent in April to 39 percent in May. The sales-to-listing ratio is a comparison of the number of sales for a period of time against the number of new listings. “Saskatoon remains a buyer’s market, however, homes that are priced to market and in good condition will still command great interest and in some cases competing offers,” comments Yochim. Last month, the average home in Saskatoon took 47 days to sell. This is the lowest time to sell so far this year.

Year-to-date, the average sale price was $334,449, a four percent decrease from the same period last year. Since averages can be misleading, a better reflection of the market is the median. The median home sale price year to date is $320,000. The five year average for median residential home sale prices in Saskatoon is $341,980.

The Home Price Index Composite Benchmark Price (HPI) continued on an upward trend for most home types (except apartments) again in May. The HPI is the most accurate indicator of where home prices are trending.

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

The number of Saskatoon home sales grew to 86 this week, up from 70 for the previous week, but fell well short of matching numbers generated during the same period of 2017 when 102 local properties traded. New listings also grew as Saskatoon real estate agents added 209 residential listings to the MLS® system, way up from 170 the week before, but significantly down from the 247 homes that were listed during the same week last year.

As the month of May closed, 80 residential listings came to the end of their term without a sale. Another 81 home listings were either canceled or withdrawn this week. While a good number of these failed listings would have come back to be counted a second time as a “new listing”, more listings came out than went in over the period, and consequently, the number of Saskatoon homes listed for sale on the multiple listing service® fell lower to 1955, down from 1997 at last week’s close, and down just more than 200 on a year-over-year basis. At just 1038, there are close to 150 fewer single-family homes for sale than there were a year ago. Available condominium options sit at 791, down from 818 a year earlier.

A fairly consistent distribution of sales across various price ranges kept both the weekly average sale price and the weekly median price pretty stable at $338,360 and $327,000 respectively. The longer-term measures also changed little. The six-week average price inched slightly lower as it slipped just over thirteen hundred dollars to $332,680. That’s about eighteen thousand dollars lower than it was a year ago. The four-week median price took a small increase as it grew by two thousand dollars from last week’s close to reach $322,000. That measure is at it’s highest point since the middle of March but is still down eighteen thousand dollars annually. If there’s any notable change in these longer-term price measures, it’s more about what happened last year at this time, than what’s going on now. You can see that both the six-week average and the four-week median price took a huge jump through the early spring weeks of 2017. By this point of last year, those large gains were starting to fall off. With more stable pricing this year, we are seeing the massive year-over-year declines in these two measures begin to moderate quite a bit now, due to last year’s declines through this period.

Once again, two Saskatoon home sellers found some love in the market and ended up selling for more than they were asking, those sale prices were most likely driven up by a little competition amongst buyers. One of those two deals closed nearly 13K above list, while the other got a bonus of around five thousand. Another 75 deals were reported to have sold for less than the asking price. In those cases, buyers netted an average discount of $13.944.

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