It was another week of mixed results for the Saskatoon real estate market with some good news, and some bad news for home buyers and sellers. A total of 136 Saskatoon homes were introduced to the market (single-family, condos and duplexes) and 91 sales were reported in the same residential categories. Total active listings of homes in the categories outlined above reached 484 units (500 including other residential types like mobiles and semi-detached).

Here are a few of the highlights.

• The percentage of Saskatoon homes which sold above the asking price dropped to its lowest level since the week of March 5-9. Only 47% of properties reported sold went for more than asking price, a drop of about 15% from the previous week.
• A smaller percentage of over list price sales brought us the smallest spread between the average list price and the average sale price since the week of March 12-16.
• For the first time since the week of March 26-30 one of the major Saskatoon real estate areas (Area 4) recorded an average selling price which was actually below the average list price.
• The average overbid saw an increase of about 14% over the previous week.
• The average list price of a Saskatoon home topped the quarter million dollar mark for the first time.
• The average selling price reached a new weekly high at $257,169. Was Dwight Percy right all along? Are we headed for the $300,000 mark?

It’s a tough one to figure out. While there are some definite signs of cooling, enough heat obviously remains to continue pushing prices forward. Generally, agents are reporting fewer showings and fewer offers on new listings. There is no question that this market feels substantially different than it did just seven or eight weeks ago. Buyers who remain active must still be feeling like their options are limited. I expect they’re feeling tired of this game and perhaps a little desperate to just get it over with.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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

New Saskatoon real estate listings outpaced home sales this past week by nearly two to one leaving total active listings of single family homes, condominiums and duplexes at 479 units, the highest level we’ve seen this year. Residential real estate activity in Saskatoon produced some good news and some bad news for both buyers and sellers. Here are a few of the highlights as I see them.

• Second highest number of new Saskatoon residential real estate listings for any week this year, topped only once during the week of May 14-18.
• Second lowest number of unit sales for any given week since I began the “week in review.” The week of July 2-6 saw fewer sales at 63 units.
• In four of the five Saskatoon real estate areas the percentage of listings which sold for more than list price was very close to 50%. Strong performance in Area 1 (almost 80%) skewed the overall average up to 62%.
• Average list prices and average selling prices reached their highest level this year.
• The average overbid was the lowest we’ve seen since the week of March 26-30.
• 17 listings in the categories described above expired or were withdrawn from the market without a sale.

These weekly stats combined with some of the marginal changes which we’ve been seeing in recent weeks, start to give the impression that there is some kind of a trend towards a more balanced market. While prices remain very strong we are seeing a smaller gap between the average list price and the average selling price. If inventory continues to grow we will eventually see a more meaningful connection between the two.

You’ll notice a new column in the chart this week. Last week, Doug Hay commented on the fact that while the “average overbid” was consistently present in my review; there was no reporting of an “average underbid.” Initially, I thought that there was little significance to those numbers given the small percentage of homes which were selling below list, and the fact that much of the pressure associated with the real estate transaction comes with competitive bidding. I didn’t think that they would be particularly instructive. However, I decided to delve into them as a bit of an experiment and found that there may be something there that others might find interesting. One should keep in mind that the average underbid is subject to some skewing by extraordinary sales like one in area 1 which sold for $772,500 against a list price of $819,500.Many of the under list sales are within a few thousand dollars of asking, as are many of the over list sales. My thanks to Doug for the little push on this.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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

While the number of new Saskatoon real estate listings outpaced sales once again this week, active listings of Saskatoon homes remained steady at 424. This can be explained by a higher than usual number of expired listings (a listing which fails to sell during the agreed upon marketing period). We’ve never talked much about expired listings as they haven’t been much of a factor lately but I do wonder if we’ll we will start to see more of them. This would be another factor which one could watch for signs of stabilization. Here are the numbers of expired listings for each month over the last year.

August, 2007 (to date) – 15

July, 2007 – 29

June, 2007 – 18

May, 2007 – 13

April, 2007 – 12

March, 2007 – 11

February, 2007 – 15

January, 2007 – 30

December, 2006 – 81

November, 2006 – 53

October, 2006 – 67

September, 2006 – 71

August, 2006 – 61

It’s certainly no big surprise that expired listings have fallen off substantially this year, but there does seem to be a growing number of them over the last couple of months.

Buying activity appears to have been fairly consistent with what we’ve come to expect with over 60% of Saskatoon real estate sales being reported as “sold above the asking price.” Activity was strongest on Saskatoon’s east side where the majority of sellers hit the overbid jackpot with close to 80% of homes selling over list price. Areas 3, 4 and 5 were much closer to 50%.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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 active listing inventory of Saskatoon homes for sale inched higher again for the eighth consecutive week. 131 new residential listings were offered for sale while only 81 actually traded, leaving a total of 429 homes displaying the active status. This is probably the highest number that we’ve seen so far this year but it’s still well below the levels which would be required to bring balance to a heated market. Over the last number of years we have typically operated with 600 to 700 active residential listings.

In spite of a growing number of listings offered in the Saskatoon real estate market, overbidding continued to occur in a little better than 60% of the recorded sales, but the average overbid was down about 20% from the previous week.

While I’m not in a good position to dig a lot deeper on this point right now, my initial glance at the numbers leads me to believe that there are more properties trading closer to the asking price ($100-$10,000) than there have been in previous weeks. In most areas the average overbid is skewed upwards by a few extraordinary sales, like a Lawson heights condo listed for $199,900 and selling for $285,000. Buyers will want to take some care in the “bidding” process and not get carried away. Many smart minds are expressing great concern about affordability of Saskatoon homes and if inventory continues to grow this market may be seeing its peak for the time being. (See last week’s review for some great insights from our readers and the media).

Notable sales

Forest Grove apartment (1,070’) sells for $220,500.

Silverspring bungalow (1,040’) on a busy street goes at $341,000.

North Park bungalow (792’) with a double detached garage brings $232,500.

Showy Lawson Heights bi-level (1,120’) without a garage sells at $345,000.

Confederation Park two-storey (1,364’) with a double detached garage fetches $275,000.

Thanks to all the readers and commenter’s on last week’s review for carrying the ball this past week.

I have been away on vacation and won’t return to Saskatoon for another week. I’ve been checking in from day to day but I’ve had little time to participate in the discussion. With so many hours spent away from home over the first half of this year, we’re trying to get caught up and keep our minds focused on family. She was gracious enough to “go shopping” for a couple of hours today so I could prepare this week’s review. Again, thanks so much! I really do appreciate your participation and the additional information and insight which you bring to the review.

  See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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

Following a couple of weeks which showed some signs that the market may be cooling off, Saskatoon real estate buyers came out in a big way and resumed the aggressive bidding which we’ve become accustomed to seeing here.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home crept above to quarter million dollar mark again this week after dropping to $242,413 the week of July 2, and further to $237,032 the week of July 9. Average overbids bounced back above the $25,000 mark.

Area 3 home buyers were most eager to purchase property. The average overbid in the area which begins at downtown Saskatoon and extends north to the city’s edge between Idylwyld Drive and the river valley came close to hitting $50,000, albeit on a fairly small number of total sales. Prior to this week we haven’t seen this number break the $40,000 mark in any area.

Notable sales

• Lakeview apartment (867’) listed at a whopping $189,900 finds a buyer at $225,000
• Forest Grove one bedroom apartment (635’) listed at $129,900 sells for $145,600 (Consider that I sold one of these units on July 1, 2006 for $64,000, and then resold the same unit on March 27, 2007 for $120,000. This recent sale represents a 129% increase in just over a year)

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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 resumed the hectic pace we’ve become accustomed to this week after recording a fairly significant drop in unit sales the previous week. 119 Saskatoon homes were reported sold, almost double the number reported the week of July 2-6. New residential listings slightly outpaced sales with 127 new listings coming on the market.

The market did continue to produce some hopeful signs that some of the heat may be coming off. The average overbid fell short of the $20,000 mark for the first time since the week of April 9, and more than 20% lower than was recorded just last week. The percentage of homes which sold above the asking price was also lower at 63% and the difference between the average list price and the average selling price of a home was just $10,240. We have to go all the way back to the week of March 26 to see a list price to sale price ratio which is smaller than this one.

Finally, you may notice that the average recorded selling price of all Saskatoon homes declined for the third week in a row. Realistically, July could bring the first drop in the average selling price of a home this year.

Are we going to see this trend continue through the summer months? Is “the boom” over, or is this just a much needed breather for buyers? Please let me know what you’re thinking.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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

Reported sales of Saskatoon homes dropped to their lowest point since I started the week in review. Saskatoon real estate agents reported 63 firm sales in residential categories (excluding semi-detached) for the week, a drop of nearly 50% from the previous week.

Meanwhile, 130 new listings came on the market and active residential listings in Saskatoon finally inched over the 400 mark. A total of 402 property listings are displaying an “active” status on the Saskatoon Real Estate Board MLS®.

In spite of the fact that sales were remarkably low in comparison to listing activity, strong overbidding continued to be fairly prevalent with 67% of sales being reported above the asking price, and the average overbid dropping just slightly from the week before to $25,533.

One can’t help get the sense that Saskatoon residents who have been unsuccessful in purchasing a home are growing weary. Affordability is certainly a factor as the average selling price of a Saskatoon home tops the quarter million dollar mark. There still seems to be a large number of “out of province” buyers who remain active. My recent listings show an increasing percentage of the buyers who are making offers are moving to, and not within Saskatoon.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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