The owners of Christie’s Mayfair Bakery have announced that they will expand their operation this summer with the addition of a retail store at the corner of Broadway and 10th. The new store will be known as Christie’s il Secondo.

Expect to find all of the wonderful creations currently available at Christie’s 33rd Street location plus some interesting lunch offerings like authentic Italian pizza, panini sandwiches and fresh Italian coffee.

Located in Saskatoon’s Nutana area, the Broadway business district is known for its unique shops and services. Christie’s should be a natural fit and a perfect addition to the community. 

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

In a 9-2 vote last night, city council agreed to sell Parcel Y in Saskatoon’s Central Business District to Lake Placid for development of their proposed River Landing Village.

According to a story on the Star Phoenix website, “An agreement is now in place to develop the city's most coveted piece of riverfront land with a new deadline and promises that financing for the megaproject will be available soon….Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger said the agreement for the sale of the land paves the way for the company to secure financing.”

I’m totally confused. Here’s why.

On April 12, council voted to reopen negotiations with the developer and to conduct an independent audit to determine if Lake Placid has sufficient financing to complete the project.

On May 25, following what Mayor Don Atchison described as “the most due diligence that the city has done on any land sale,” city council, sitting as an executive committee, reached an agreement on price with Lake Placid.

The story that ran in the Star Phoenix the following day included this bit of text, "We're ready, willing and able now to proceed with the $200-million project,” Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger said Tuesday. "We have financing in place . . . and are ready to move dirt in June or July."

Under the new agreement Lake Placid has until November 1 to provide documentation that between $50 million and $60 million dollars in financing is secure.

Huh?

All of our Lake Placid posts are 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

A Class-A office vacancy rate of less than 1 percent is driving developers to continue expanding the inventory in downtown Saskatoon.

Discovery Plaza is Saskatoon’s latest Class-A project. Completed in 2009 it brought more than 50,000 square feet to the market, all of which was quickly scooped up by BHP Billiton.

The redevelopment of the Capitol 4 site on First Avenue North is currently underway and will bring an additional 31,000 square feet in a building that will be known as the Capitol Centre.

More recently, Pillar Properties Corp.has just released plans for a four-storey office building at 141 Pacific Avenue. Construction will depend on some successful pre-leasing efforts. If sufficient interest exists the new building would bring another 50,000 square feet of Class-A office space to Saskatoon’s downtown core.

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 Saskatoon Heath Regionhas selected the Royal University Hospital (RUH) to house the new Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan following the recommendation of a site validation committee appointed to review four location options.

The committee explains the rationale that led to a unanimous recommendation in a YouTube video here.

The Royal University Hospital is located on the University of Saskatchewan campus at the edge of Varsity Viewin Saskatoon.

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 North Park "graffiti wall" takes on a new life as artists work at a theme change from Where the Wild Things Are to "Old Town Cartoons." Every other year, the home owner who erected the privately owned concrete sound attenuation wall at Warman Road and Empress invites select graffiti artists to ply their skills and display their work along one of Saskatoon's busiest traffic corridors. What was initially a concern for a community taken by surprise seems to have become a cherished neighbourhood treasure as evidenced by dozens of honking cars and waving drivers who showed their support as artists diligently worked at the transformation today.

A few more at my flickr. There's a great gallery of the previous theme, Where the Wild Things Are, at the Digital Expressions blog if you haven't had the chance to see it. Check out our North Park neighbourhood profile.

I hope that you're enjoying this gorgeous Saskatoon weekend.

Norm

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors recently reported May 2010 results for the entire residential category of Saskatoon real estate including single-family homes, condominiums, semi-detached properties, duplexes, mobile homes and vacant lots. Unit sales totaled 354 across all of these property types for a decline of roughly four percent compared to the previous May. The average selling price of a residential property in Saskatoon was $294,516 for a gain of just over $15,000 (five percent) when compared to May of 2009. Let’s have a look at how single-family detached homes (houses) and condominiums did in comparison to the entire residential category.

Single-family detached home sales softened through the month of May falling to 232 units, down nineteen from April to fall short of last May’snumbers by fifteen homes. Those that did sell moved far quicker (twenty-eight days) than they did during the same month last year when houses took an average on forty days to sell.

The inventory of active house listings continued to push higher but still fell short of last year’s highs. At the close of the month 822 single-family homes were showing an active status on the Saskatoon multiple listing service. That number represents a gain of one hundred units over the month and a decline of sixty-nine on a year-over-year basis. Still, housing inventory took a big step into more of a “balanced market” territory as the “months of supply” expanded from 2.9 months at the end of April to 3.5 months by the end of May.

Average house prices inched lower to $321,263 dropping by about $8,600 when compared to April. The average selling price of a Saskatoon house was up just under ten thousand dollars when compared with May of 2009. The median slipped lower by three thousand dollars on a month-over-month basis falling to $315,000 and recording a gain of twenty thousand dollars on the year. The three-month average pushed up slightly to $320,946 and also finished up by roughly twenty thousand over the past twelve months. Only eight single-family home sales were recorded above the $500,000 mark in May whereas April produced twenty sales in that range. April’s price numbers were certainly skewed higher by this unusually larger number of sales at the market’s high end.

While house sales began to cool off Saskatoon condominium sales remained strong. 117 units changed hands during the month, up from 104 in the month of April and just slightly higher than the 111 units that sold in May of 2009.

Condominium inventory spiked higher through May reaching 503 by the end of the month to bring us the first year-over-year inventory gain that we’ve seen in nearly twelve months. Total condo inventory moved up from 444 at the close of April to finish May above last year’s number of 480. Still, increased demand kept the “months of inventory” from swelling further. It remained steady at a 4.3-month supply following a big jump in April when it moved to up from just 3.2 months in March.

Saskatoon condo prices surged forward again with the average selling price reaching $242,998, up nearly thirteen thousand dollars from last month. The year-over-year gain was substantial moving more than fifteen percent from $210,544 last May. The median selling price showed similar gains climbing $26,000 over the past year to $235,000. The three-month average moved up less gaining just one thousand dollars from April and seventeen thousand dollars on a year-over-year basis.

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.

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

The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) released the residential real estate statistics for Mayof 2010 yesterday, accompanied by this release.

The residential housing market remained steady in the month of May. Unit sales were down 4% with 354 units selling compared to 369 in May of 2009. Year to date, unit sales are up 5% with 1,501 units having sold.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average price in May was $294,516, up 5% from May 2009 when the average selling price was $279,287. Year to date, the average selling price is also up 5% to $289,324.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

REALTORS® have sold $434,275,000 worth of real estate this year, up 10% from this time in 2009 when $393,349,000 worth of real estate had sold. Listing numbers are up 8% from May of 2009 with 779 properties having been listed during the same month this year. Listing numbers for the year are on par with last year. 3,162 properties have been placed on the market in 2010. Home buyers had 1,403 homes to select from at the end of May.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The market softened slightly in communities around the city. For example, unit sales in Martensville, Warman, Clavet and Dundurn totalled 86, down from 97 in May 2009. The average selling price in these communities was $271,192, up 14% from last year when it was $238,904. The number of new listings was down slightly last month with 272 properties being placed on the market, 4% lower than last year when 284 homes were offered for sale.

Consumers are expressing confidence in the local economy as evidenced by their buying patterns. New home construction is doing well, retail sales are strong and when coupled with low interest rates conditions are favourable for a vibrant market. Sales and listing activity is expected to remain similar to the end of the second 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.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra