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Saskatoon real estate week in review - August 24-28 2009
Saskatoon real estate sales took a rather significant turn this week, falling to their lowest level since early May with just sixty-five homes sold, down from an exceptionally strong number of one hundred and fourteen the week before. Unit sales still managed to come in a higher than the same week last year when only fifty-three homes changed hands. On a brighter note, the week came to a close with three hundred and sixty firm residential sales reported for August, up from two hundred and fifty-four for August 2008, and well above the five-year August average of three hundred and seventeen Saskatoon homes sold. With just one more reporting day in August, it seems doubtful that we’ll see the same record breaking performance that we saw in Julybut we will almost certainly come close to our peak sale levels of 397 homes sold in August 2007.


New Saskatoon MLS listings also took a bit of a dip, though not nearly as dramatically as the slide in unit sales. Agents offered ninety-one houses and condos for sale, ten fewer than last week, and down thirty properties when compared to the same week last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Total active residential listings managed to fall slightly finishing the week at 1152, down just thirteen from last week, but well off of last year’s 1676 homes. Single-family home stock remained steady at six hundred and seventy-six while condominium inventory picked up five properties to finish at three hundred and eighty-five. Losses in other categories (duplexes, semis, etc.) brought the marginal overall decline.



In prices, forty-seven price changes were recorded over the course of the week. An additional twenty-two Saskatoon home sellers pulled the old, “I’m out, no, I’m in” trick by canceling an existing listing and bringing the home back on with a new MLS number.


Prices softened slightly by all three measures this week with the overall average sliding just over thirty-five hundred dollars to $278,932. The six-week average slipped less than a thousand dollars, remaining just twenty-three hundred dollars lower than it was for the same week last year. The four-week median price slipped fifty-five hundred dollars to end at $274,500, about five thousand dollars below last year’s number.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The average underbid on Saskatoon homes that sold for less than the asking price fell again to $8,609, down just about a thousand dollars compared to last week when it was $9,605. That’s a discount of just 2.5%, nearly half of what we were seeing just a few weeks ago.


Seventy seven percent of sellers who took a deal below their asking price managed to close without dropping more than ten thousand dollars.


Overbid sales nearly disappeared with just two buyers offering to pay more than the asking price (one just barely), compared to eleven the week before.




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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review - August 17-21 2009
It was a week that may have brought pleasant memories of better days to local home sellers as Saskatoon real estate agents reported one hundred and fourteen house and condo sales to record the biggest week this year; if fact, the biggest week since late April of 2008. Unit sales finished twenty-three higher than last week, and more than doubled compared to the same week in 2008when just fifty-four Saskatoon homes traded hands.


New listings held steady at one hundred and one properties, down just one home from last week, but thirty-three units fewer than were listed over the same period last year. This week was one of just three in the past twenty months during which the number of unit sales exceeded the number of new listings.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The active inventory of Saskatoon MLS listingsresumed its slide, which was temporarily stalled last week, and fell nearly fifty units from 1213, to finish the week at 1165 properties. Active listings are down roughly thirty percent on a year-over-year basis, dropping five hundred and two units from 1667 last year at this time. As of today there are six hundred and seventy-six single family detached houses for sale, approximately thirty-eight percent fewer than were available last year at this time when the inventory of houses climbed to 1,067. Condominium inventory sits at three hundred and eighty today, twenty-two percent off of last year’s number of four hundred and eighty-eight.



Fifty-six home sellers adjusted their asking price through the course of the week and fourteen of thirty-one canceled or withdrawn listings came back to the system as a new listing, most sporting a new price.


In spite of brisk sales activity and falling inventory the average selling price of Saskatoon homes maintained some steadiness, inching up just slightly from $281,095 last week to $282,464. The six-week average fell by approximately twice as much slipping to $282,459 from $285,337 the week before, and remained down from the same week last year by roughly seven thousand dollars. The four-week median took a bounce and reached its highest point in a year, increasing five thousand dollars from last week to $280,000, just five hundred dollars below the number recorded at this time in 2008.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


While the underbid chart looks similar to last week’s, overbidding made a remarkable comeback in just one week as eleven sales were reported above the seller’s asking price, by $9,605 on average. Most of the overbid sales were in the $3,000-$5,000 range, but one new home sold near $650,000 at $66,500 above the asking price, driving the average higher. Perhaps more interesting to me is the fact that eight of the eleven overbid sales come from one Willowgrove condo development. Given that it took sixteen months to sell thirty-one of thirty-five units available at this development, it seems uncanny that eight properties should be reported sold in a single week, and somewhat mind boggling that all eight sales should come in above the asking price.


Another eight properties sold at the asking price, and ninety-five sellers negotiated an offer below their list price. The average underbid on properties that sold for less than the list price slid slightly lower, falling from $10,734 last week to $9,605, an average discount of roughly 3.3 percent of the asking price.



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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon city council, in a special emergency meeting today, granted a final extension to Lake Placid Developments to cough up the $4.55 million for land the developer purchased at River Landing by October 30 2009. The extension is conditional upon the developer paying interest to the City of Saskatoon in the amount of $214,197 by August 31. An “embarrassed and humbled” Michael Lobsinger left a post-dated cheque to settle the bill along with his continued assurances that financing for the residential condo development and hotel, the proposed centrepieceof the River Landing development, is “imminent.”


In a story just published on the Star Phoenix website, Mayor Don Atchison is quoted as saying, “It’s all about certainty, and in the financial markets today it’s all about certainty, not guesswork. This is absolute certainty now. You heard me at the end there tell (Lake Placid CEO Michael) Lobsinger if he doesn’t come up with the $214,197.14, the deal is finished, or if it doesn’t come up with the money for the land, it’s terminated as well. There’s no more chances.”


Read the Star Phoenix story here. CBC's report is 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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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From Coldwell Banker's media release - August 17 2009 - It often seems as though men and women are from different planets, but every day millions of couples navigate through day-to-day and even life-altering decisions. Because a home is the biggest purchase most people will make in their lifetime, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC surveyed 1,000 individuals to discover how much men and women differ in the home-buying process.



View the study findings and media release here.


Thanks to Jason for the heads up.


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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatoon real estate week in review - August 10-14 2009
Following one of the quietest weeks that we’ve experienced over the past couple of months the Saskatoon real estate market picked up a bit of steam again as sales of single-family detached houses and condominiums bounced back to finish the week with ninety-one homes sold. That represents an increase of fourteen properties compared to last week’s production, and a more impressive gain of thirty-two units when compared against the same week last yearwhen just fifty-nine homes changed hands.


New listings remained steady this week with one hundred and two properties being offered for sale on the Saskatoon MLS system, up just one from last week, but down by fifty-five properties from the same period in 2008 when one hundred and fifty-seven Saskatoon homeswere listed.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



After eight consecutive weeks of losses the inventory of residential listings refused to slide further and finished the week at 1213 units, up one from last week’s close. Still, this year’s active inventory is twenty-two percent lower than the 1555 residential properties that were available at the same time last year.



Through the course of the week, forty-nine home sellers adjusted their asking price in hopes of attracting a buyer before fall sets in. Additionally, seventeen of twenty-nine canceled or withdrawn listings made a second appearance on our system wearing a “new listing” flag.


The average selling price of a Saskatoon home remained steady on a week-over-week basis at $281,095. The six-week average took a small gain from the week before to finish at $285,337, not quite seven thousand dollars shy of last year’s $292,285. The four-week median held firm at $275,000, coming up just seven hundred dollars short on a year-over-year basis.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



The average underbid on properties that sold below the asking price inched up to $10,734, from $9,173 the week before. That represents an average discount in the range of 3.7%, about a half of a percentage point higher than last week. The percentage of sellers who managed to secure an offer within $10,000 of the asking price rose from sixty percent last week to seventy-two percent this week. Discounts of $25,000 or more returned to the chart after being absent last week for the first time that I can recall as four percent of Saskatoon home sellers gave up a pretty big chunk of change in exchange for a sold sign.



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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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The Canadian Real Estate Association(CREA) is claiming a Canadian home sales record has been broken as real estate boards across the country reported more than 50,000 home sales for the first time during any July on record.


According to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), a total of 50,270 homes traded hands via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) of Canadian real estate boards in July 2009. This is up 18.2 per cent from the same month last year, and stands 3.9 per cent above the previous record for the month of July set back in 2007.


On a seasonally adjusted basis, national MLS® home sales posted a sixth consecutive month-over-month increase in July, climbing 2.5 per cent from June to reach 42,539 units. Seasonally adjusted activity now stands 61.2 per cent above the decade-low in January, and just 1.4 per cent below the all-time peak May 2007.


Similarly, the national average selling price moved up rising 7.6% over the same month last year while CREA warns that a sharp rebound in demand experienced “in some of Canada’s most expensive markets is skewing the national average price upward, just as a sharp decline in activity in these markets skewed the average lower in late 2008.”


The complete media release and a detailed overview of the statistics from major markets across the country can 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.


Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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I suppose I’m a little biased. After all, I did choose it, but I have to say that this website now has the slickest MLS listings search toolavailable to Saskatoon home buyers. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please do. I’d love to hear what you think.


Located under the “Saskatoon Homes” button on the navigation bar, this powerful home search tool provides access to Saskatoon MLS listings represented by all local real estate brands. Regular data feeds typically result in new listings appearing here within hours of hitting the agent MLS, and well ahead of realtor.ca.


You’ll have options to search by selecting neighbourhoods, by drawing out a preferred geographic area on a Google map, by address, or by known MLS numbers.


Search results are delivered quickly and with a number of viewing options.  Results can be easily sorted to display by price, by listing date, or even by house size.


Without a doubt, the detailed listing view provides more information than you’ll be accustomed to seeing on any other public home search site, including realtor.ca.


The search tool works and provides full details on MLS listings with no registration required, but there is additional functionality if you don’t mind throwing your name and email address into a registration form. You have my promise that we won’t treat your registration as an invitation to spam you. If you need something, just ask. Otherwise, we’ll leave you to browse on your own.


Registered users can save searches to a private portfolio so they don’t have to be executed each time they return, but rather, selected from their list of searches. They can save their favorite properties to separate lists, rank listings using a star rating system, make notes on listings, and opt in or out of email notifications on changes to their saved searches (price changes and new listings).


There’s an awesome mobile component for iPhone and Android devices. Rumour has it that a Blackberry version is in the works.


Check out one of the quick search links that reside on the side bar under “Search Saskatoon MLS Listings” or customize your perfect search here.


Hats off to MyRealPage who developed and market the tool. Technical Director Bill Skrypnyk, along with his crew of top-notch programmers have been busting their butts to bring some huge improvements to the product over the past few months.


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 (August 4-7 2009)
Short weeks following a long weekend almost always produce fewer home sales, and this week was no exception for the Saskatoon real estate market. Unit sales of single-family houses and condominiums slid to seventy-seven properties, down twenty-five sales from the previous week, and reaching their lowest level since the second week of June. On the other hand, this same week in 2008was one of the top-ten losers for the year with firm sales of just thirty-five properties, so seventy-seven sales actually looks pretty good.


New listings were another story altogether as local agents brought one hundred and one Saskatoon homesto the market, an increase of ten units over the previous week, and seventeen fewer homes than were added during the same period last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



In what’s starting to look like a near definite trend, the “active” inventory of Saskatoon MLS listings continued its downward trek falling to 1212 properties, slipping just nineteen homes from last week, but more than twenty percent lower than it was at this time last year when it sat at 1555. As of this morning, we have 723 houses, 395 condos, 25 semi-detached homes, 14 mobiles, 11 vacant lots, 32 duplexes, and 12 properties, which apparently, are best described as something “other” than those aforementioned housing types.


In 2008, the inventory of active listings continued to grow aggressively for another nine weeks to peak at 1756. In 2009, active listings peaked much earlier at 1528and have been trending lower since late May. Demand, and general interest in the Saskatoon housing market seems to remain remarkably strong, so agents are starting to hear more complaints from home buyers about a poor selection. Premium homes that are in good condition and realistically priced, can be expected to attract interest fairly quickly. While I continue to feel that the market is somewhat fragile, it has a reasonably good feeling of balance to it. Almost every transaction involves a negotiation, and neither buyers nor sellers are displaying an air of cockiness. It’s the kind of market that I enjoy working most. I hope that listings start to level off some and that we don’t return to a major imbalance of supply and demand in the other direction.



In pricing news, forty-eight adjustments were recorded throughout the week and nineteen of twenty-two canceled or withdrawn listings re-appeared as a new listing, most sporting a new, lower price.


Sale prices took a bit of a downturn as the average selling price of a Saskatoon home slid nine thousand dollars on a week-over-week basis to $281,400. Following six consecutive weeks of gains, the six-week average finally let up, sliding four thousand dollars from last week to $283,736, down from $296,934 for the same week in 2008. The four-week median came down just under a thousand bucks to $275,000, off thirteen thousand dollars from this same week in 2008.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The average underbid on properties that sold below the asking price took a pretty sharp drop, falling to just $9,173 from $13,550 the week before. That represents an average discount in the range of 3.2%, about 1.5% lower than what we’ve been seeing most weeks. Sixty-six percent of all sellers managed to strike a deal within ten thousand dollars of their asking price, and for the first time in a long while there wasn’t a single-sale that was discounted by twenty-five thousand dollars or more. Overbids were almost as rare with just two properties attracting offers above asking price, with an average overbid of just $1275.



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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Read

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors recently reported July results for the entire residential categoryof Saskatoon real estate, which includes single-family homes, condominiums, semi-detached properties, duplexes, mobile homes and vacant lots. Unit sales totaled 440 properties across all of these property types, at an average selling price of $283,619. Let’s have a look at how houses (single-family detached homes) and condominiums did in comparison to the entire residential category.


Sales of single-family homes in Saskatoon remained fairly steady through July, ending just four units short of June’s numbers at 294 properties, but sharply higher than July 2008 sales when 228 houses changed hands. In July of 2007 when sales were at their peak, 315 houses were reported sold. Active listings in the single-family home category slid to their lowest level since Januaryreaching 741 units, down from 818 last month. At this time last year the inventory of Saskatoon houses for sale sat at 976.



The average sale price of a house rose on a month-over-month basis climbing more than $11,000 to $315,768, but remained down when compared to last July when it slid from its peak to $322,715. The median price grew marginally to $299,000, down just $1,000 from the same month last year. The three-month average saw similar growth rising about $4,500 from June to finish at $309,871, still nearly $20,000 lower than last July’s three-month average of $329,610.

Average and median house prices in Saskatoon for July 2009


Interestingly, the average price per square foot for a Saskatoon house declined slightly in July, on both a month-over-month basis, and year-over-year. This measure came in at $246, just three dollars below June’s average, but a full twenty dollars lower than July of 2008.



Saskatoon condo sales also picked up a bit of traction but not to the same degree as houses. Unit sales climbed six compared to June to finish the month at 129, up eighteen from 111 in July of 2008. Active listings also declined in the condo category, but just marginally. At the end of July, 393 condos were displaying an active status on the Saskatoon MLS system, down eighteen properties when compared to last month and twenty-five fewer than the same month last year.



Condo prices showed less movement through July but the average selling price still managed to climb about $5,000 from June to settle at $220,363, approximately $16,000 behind last July’s average. The median sale price increased one thousand dollars from last month to reach $210,000, but remained down year-over-year by $10,000. The three-month average price remained steady from one month to the next at $215,672 but showed losses of nearly twelve percent compared to last year when it hit $244,634.



The average cost per square foot for a Saskatoon condo lost all of the gains that it made in June sliding six dollars to $211, roughly fifteen percent lower than last July when it hit $248 and at its lowest point in more than two years.



Remember, averages and cost per square foot numbers can provide some useful insights into pricing trends but they’re not as useful when engaging in an actual transaction. If you’re buying or selling you should be seeking current information on active listings and recent sales, which are most comparable to your property in terms of location, size, features and amenities.


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.


Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) released the residential real estate statistics for July 2009today, accompanied by this release.


Many home buyers were active in the real estate market this past July. Residential unit sales were up 28% with 440 units selling as compared to 2008when 345 properties exchanged hands. Year to date 2,306 units have sold down slightly from 2008 when 2,498 units sold.



The average selling price continued to correct ending off the month at $283,619.00 down 3% from last July when the average selling price was $292,714.00. Year to date the average selling price was $277,512.00 down 4% from 2008 when the average was $289,746.00.



Listing inventories continued to correct during the month of July with 1,291 homes being available for purchase. This number is down significantly from a high of 1748 homes for sale in September of 2008. Inventory levels at this time of the year in 2004, 2005 and 2006 stood typically between 700 and 800 properties for sale.



Sales activity in the areas surrounding Saskatoon was also very active with 109 sales that number up 51% from July 2008 when 72 were sold. Year to date 525 units have sold down 13% from 2008 when 606 homes had exchanged hands.


The average selling price in July was $253,764.00 down 5% from 2008 when the average was $265,852.00. Year to date the average selling price in areas around Saskatoon is up 6% at $245,920.00.


Consumers are expressing a general confidence in the local economy, which is translating into home purchases. Interest rates are excellent and the job market is remaining steady contributing favorably to those wanting to enter the housing market. Market activity is expected to remain consistent for the remainder of the third quarter.


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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Read

Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (July 27-31 2009)
Home sales showed no signs of slowing down this week as Saskatoon real estate agents reported one hundred and two single-family detached house and condominium sales to the MLS system, bringing about the third strongest sales week of 2009, and the fourth consecutive week of rising sales. The number of homes sold increased just four units from the previous week, and showed gains of twenty-two when compared to the same week last year.


The pace of new listings entering the market continued to slow as one might expect at this time of year sliding eleven units from last week to ninety-one, and down sharply from the same week in 2008 when one hundred and thirty-nine Saskatoon homeswere offered for sale.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Active residential real estate listings took another slide this week as unit sales exceeded new listings for the first time in 2009. An additional fifty-one properties expired without a sale, most as the calendar turned to the month of August. This is fairly typical of month end, and throughout the year we’ve seen many of those month-end expired listings come back on the market during the first week of the following month, although that didn’t happen last month.


Total active residential listings are down eighteen percent from the same week in 2008 when they reached 1500 properties. Today there are 741 single-family detached houses and 393 condominiums showing an active status. During the last week of July 2008 there were 976 single-family homes and 418 condos for sale, so clearly, the inventory of houses has seen the greatest downward trend falling twenty-four percent in recent months, while the condo inventory has slid just six percent.



The average selling price of a Saskatoon home bounced back this week reaching $290,542, more than seventeen thousand dollars higher than last week. The six-week average edged higher on a week-over-week basis to $287,927, falling short of last year’s number by just eighty-five hundred dollars and reaching its highest point since the first week of November 2008. The four-week median climbed to $275,960, a gain of six thousand dollars over the week before, but remained down by twelve thousand dollars from the same week last year. The year-over-year declines are actually starting to look quite slight when compared with the much larger gaps we were seeing over the past few months.


Meanwhile, fifty-eight sellers adjusted the asking price that they’d initially put on their home, and an additional fifteen properties were canceled and re-listed on the Saskatoon MLS system, most at a new price.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



The average underbid on properties that sold below the asking price grew again reaching $13,550, up from $12,014 last week. This represents an average discount of 4.5% from the list price, approximately.3% higher than last week. Larger average discounts were driven higher by a few extremely large cuts to the asking price, while a slightly larger number of sellers actually found a buyer willing to pay a price within ten thousand dollars of the asking price.


See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” 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.


Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.


Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.


Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

Read
The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) IDX Reciprocity listings are displayed in accordance with SRA's MLS® Data Access Agreement and are copyright of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA).
The above information is from sources deemed reliable but should not be relied upon without independent verification. The information presented here is for general interest only, no guarantees apply.
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