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Saskatoon real estate week in review: September 23-29, 2012

Saskatoon real estate sales slipped lower this week to 82 homes, a drop of just two from last week and down seven when compared against sales reported to the multiple listings service® during the same week last year.  At the same time, new listings continued to enter the market at a faster pace. Local agents listed 140 Saskatoon homes this week, just two more than were listed last week but well up over the same week a year ago when just 82 new listings were offered up on the MLS® system.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.




The total inventory of residential listings on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® inched higher growing by eight properties from last week to 1207. That’s precisely the number of properties that were available on the MLS® one year ago. Inventory had been well down on a year-over-year basis since early February. In previous years, the trailing off of inventory was underway by now. This year, listings are sticking pretty close to that 1200 mark since the middle of May. A quick search of today’s listings shows 741 single-family homes and 396 condominiums. At the close of the same week a year ago those two categories of Saskatoon housing stood at 723 and 437 respectively.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Absence of home sales above the $630,000 mark kept the average selling price of a Saskatoon home well lower than it has been through most of the year at $308,105. A good number of entry-level transactions pushed the weekly median price below $300K for the first time in months. The six-week median sale price continued to fall for the fourth consecutive week to close the week at $332,604 for an annual gain of just over twenty-eight thousand dollars. The four-week median price took its third consecutive dip falling five thousand dollars from last week to $332,604 for a slimmer than usual annual increase of about fifteen thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Overbid sales had a fairly weak showing at just three. On average, those homes sold at just $400 more than the list price. Another seven homes sold for the full asking price. Meanwhile, 72 of this week’s 82 sales were reported to have sold at a price that was below the seller’s asking price by an average of $8,350. Other notable MLS® activity this week included 43 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 11 expired listings and 53 price adjustments.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.



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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I wrote to you last week about a special fundraiser that I was scheduled to participate in on Wednesday, September 19 and I wanted to let you know of the results.


A group of sixty agents, assembled in Vancouver for our company’s national sales conference joined forces to raise funds for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation by hiking the Grouse Grind. The event was organized by my colleague Sebastian Albrecht and his wife Bess. Sebastian happens to hold the world record for the most ascents of the mountain in a single day. He climbed Grouse Grind fourteen times over sixteen hours back in 2010. Having now climbed it just once, I have some appreciation for the magnitude of Sebastian’s accomplishment. I found a single climb to be a huge challenge, one which I will never forget and one which I hope to experience again. My thanks to Sebastian and Bess for organizing the grind and for bringing this wonderful experience to my life.


I had hoped to chronicle my climb in video snips. I didn’t get too far in before I realized I just couldn’t do that without dramatically affecting my climb time. It very quickly became difficult to operate the camera without stopping for a rest, something I really didn’t want to do. I came to give the grind my best effort. Here are the before and afters in a brief video.



My time was 1:01:13. Speaking of time, it’s not too late to donate to this great cause. You can do that here if you’d like to. My friends stepped up and contributed $2,400 to the event. Collectively, our group raised over $25,000 for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. Thanks to all who contributed.


While I am appreciative of every bit of support, financial and otherwise, I am especially touched by the generosity of those in the Saskatoon real estate community (my competitors, essentially) who helped with the cause.


Thank you all.


Pauline Perpick

Pat Tymchatyn

Patti Haubrich

Daryl Miller

Brenda and Calvin Taylor

Ed Wojcichowsky

Riel Syrenne

Lana Stark

Becky Laliberté

Regan MacNamee

Kim Newransky

Kevin Goyer

Chris Dagenais

Lyndon Neher

Kelly Kowalchuk

Lionel Betker

Maria Trakadas

Jacqueline Dolynny

Jerry Andreas

Grace Tuck

David and Julie Cortens

Heather Daverne

Dave Scharf

Brian J Taylor

Kevin Cross

Caroline Bickle

Darwin Dolgopol

Don McIvor

Barry Willick

Dean Hartley

Ron Thompson

Leo Morrison

Diane Crawford

Kerry Clarke

Joseph and Charmaine Taylor

John and Norene Penner

Sharon Cybulski

Derek Watson

Cec and Richard Willick

Don Garvie

John Stickel


Thanks again to all of you. I appreciate it so much and I promise that your contributions will be put to good use.


Norm Fisher

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Saskatoon real estate agents had another strong sales week as a total of 84 house and condo deals were reported to our MLS®, down four units compared against the previous week and below sales recorded during the same week last year by one.


New listings slowed from last week slipping by fourteen properties to finish higher on a year-over-year basis, also by fourteen homes.


For the fourth consecutive week the inventory of Saskatoon homes on the multiple listing service® remained stable at 1199, further closing the annual decline of MLS® listings to just 93 properties, the smallest that it’s been since February of this year. At the close of the week, Saskatoon home buyers had 736 single-family homes and 391 condos to choose from. Last year at this time, those two categories showed units 772 and 458 respectively.


Following on a tumble of roughly ten percent last week, the weekly median price of a Saskatoon home slipped even further to just $300,000 as the average sale price of a Saskatoon home plunged to its lowest point since March and reached $306,539. The six-week average price edged lower again, dropping about eight thousand dollars from last week to $337,710 to maintain an annual increase of more than thirty thousand dollars. The four-week median price slipped close to seven thousand dollars compared to the previous week and finished higher than it was a year ago by just over $18,000.


Overbid sales made a significant comeback as eight home buyers paid a price greater than the seller had asked by an average of $5,886. Another seven sellers received a full price offer while 68 of this week’s 84 sales showed a price below the asking price by an average of $8,907.


Other notable MLS® activity this week included 35 cancelled and withdrawn listings,  21 expired listings and 42 price adjustments.


Highlights from the news this past week

Canada's housing market cools - Globe and Mail

CREA cuts home sales forecast for this year and next - Financial Post

What a softening housing market means for the Big Six - Globe and Mail

Housing correction underway in Canada, ‘soft landing’ likely: bankers - Financial Post

Housing market correction 'appears to be under way' - Globe and Mail

House price overvaluation fading: TD - Globe and Mail

Home prices see weakest August increase in 12 years - Globe and Mail

The real estate market shifts gear, but prices hold fast - Globe and Mail

Risk of Canadian housing bubble appears to be easing, Fitch says - Globe and Mail

Canada heading into a slow-motion version of the U.S. bust: Shiller - Financial Post

Single home buyers face greater headwinds than couples - Globe and Mail

Cooling Canadian housing market a good thing for banks: Fitch - Financial Post

Is Canada’s housing market cooling or crashing? - Globe and Mail

Housing market cool down widespread across Canada - Financial Post


A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.


An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.


Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.


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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Good morning! I'm doing something later today that has me kind of excited and I'm hoping that it may be of interest to you. If it is, great!. If not, no worries.


Later this afternoon I, with a group of friends, will take the grueling three-kilometer trek up Grouse Mountain in beautiful Vancouver, BC to raise money for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, the largest charity of its kind, dedicated to supporting shelters for women who are suffering abuse, and violence prevention programs. They call this trail "the Grind" as it's well known for tearing legs apart. It should be fun! I feel prepared physically.


Did you know that violence against women is still a major problem, even in Canada? Every year, hundreds of women are victims of domestic violence. Some of them stay in that messy and very dangerous situation because they simply don't feel that they have a safe place to go to get away from it. Should you choose to support my effort today, every nickel of your donation will end up at a shelter that provides safe haven to women facing these challenges.


So whaddya say? If you have anything left in this year's charity budget I'd sure appreciate the consideration. If you want to give big, do it! If you want to throw ten bucks our way we'll be super proud to carry it to the top of Grouse Mountain on your behalf and put it to work changing lives.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Here's what I need you to do.


Click this link http://www.tinyurl.com/chv4j59

Click the "make a donation" link on the left side of the page

Fill out the form and click the "next" button at the bottom of the page

Confirm how you'd like your name to appear and write a really encouraging note to help me up the mountain, then click next.


I promise it doesn't take nearly as long as it might seem.


If you've already donated to my campaign, thank you so much for the support.


Thanks for your time and consideration.


Norm

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Saskatoon real estate week in review: September 9-15, 2012

Saskatoon real estate sales bounced out of the abyss with a big week-over-week increase. Local agents reported 88 firm house and condominium sales to the multiple listing service® for a spike of 30 units compared to the previous week to finish ten percent ahead of the same week last year.


New listings also picked up some steam growing by 42 properties over last week as 152 new MLS® listings hit the market. During the same week last year 108 Saskatoon homes were offered for sale.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


The inventory of Saskatoon homes for sale took a slightly upward turn and closed the week ahead of last week’s numbers by five. That puts us at 1200 even in the residential category, about 75 fewer homes than were available at the same point in 2011. Today’s totals show 741 single-family homes and 388 condos. Single-family homes inventory is nearly on par with last year’s numbers which stood at 755. Condo inventory is down about 15 percent on a year-over-year basis. At this point last year there were 453 Saskatoon condos available for purchase on the multiple listing service®.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


On the heels of a week in which home prices hit a new record high for any given week in Saskatoon’s history, prices softened with far more activity at the lower end of the market. The weekly median price slid $33,000 from last week to just $309,500. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home tumbled further shedding about 50K from last week’s high to $320,200. The six-week median price followed in the same direction with a much smaller decline of about six thousand dollars on the week to finish up on the same week last year by about twenty-three thousand dollars. The four-week median dropped about four thousand to $325,000 and finished up on an annual basis by twenty-five thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


Overbid sales refused to die but remained a near non-factor with just one sale closing above the asking price. That buyer paid an additional $3,550 to wrap up their deal. Another 11 sellers received full asking price for their home while 75 of this week’s 88 sales closed below the list price by an average of $8,604. Other notable MLS® activity this week included 53 canceled and withdrawn listings,  15 expired listings and 47 price adjustments.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


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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Canadian home sales decline in August, 2012: CREA

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), released national sales statistics for the month of August, 2012 today.


According to CREA, the number of home sales processed through the MLS® Systems of real estate Boards and Associations in Canada fell 5.8 per cent between July and August 2012, marking the largest month-over-month decline since June 2010.



Highlights of CREA's report    

  • Home sales down 5.8% from July to August.
  • Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 8.9% below levels in August 2011.
  • Number of newly listed homes down 1.7% from July to August.
  • Housing market remains firmly in a balanced territory at the national level.
  • National average home price up 0.3% on a year-over-year basis in August.


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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City Perks a fixture in Saskatoon's City Park neighbourhood

Amy Jo Ehman wrote a short article in today's Star Phoenix on neighbourhood coffee houses and what makes one great. She wrote specifically about City Perks, a wonderful coffee house located in the City Park area of Saskatoon.


From her article. I made this list of "what makes a great neighbourhood coffee shop" while sitting in my neighbourhood coffee shop, City Perks. It fits the bill on all accounts. City Perks has been a fixture in Saskatoon's City Park neighbourhood since it opened on a leafy corner of Seventh Avenue in 1995. Inside, it's colourful and cosy, with small tables that foster conversation and, for those who come alone, just enough room for a laptop or a book. It's not uncommon to see a writer tucked away in a corner, composing the next bestseller, we hope.


I've always loved this little shop and have to make a point of visiting more often. It's often jam-packed at lunchtime when they're serving fresh soup, sandwiches, and baking so make sure you arrive early. The forecast is suggesting that there may be some patio lunches in order in the days to come and this is a fabulous spot to enjoy a quick and fresh meal outside.


Learn more about City Park or explore some other Saskatoon neighbourhoods.


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 me.


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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This post was originally published in October of 2009. I thought it might be a good time to kick it back to the top of the list.


Like it or not, winter is coming and now is the time to get your home ready for it. A few hours looking after some preventative home maintenance items may save you from dealing with costly emergency repairs when everyone else is looking to have something fixed and service people are stretched thin.


Here is a list of things we should all be looking after over the next couple of weeks to keep our Saskatoon homes in tip-top shape, and our families safe living in them.


If I've missed something that you feel should be added to my list please leave a comment below.

On the inside

  • Consider having your home heating system professionally serviced to ensure reliability and efficient operation through the long winter.
  • Change the furnace filter, ensure that the furnace chimney is sound and free from obstructions and that the furnace has an adequate source of fresh air.
  • If you don’t already have one, consider a humidity control system for your home to keep the air comfortable.
  • Consider a programmable thermostat to save on energy costs and maintain maximum comfort.
  • Tune-up the hot water system, perhaps even draining and refilling the tank to remove sediment build-up from the bottom of the tank.
  • Have a professional inspect and clean fireplaces and chimneys for safety and efficiency.
  • Test and service your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure that they are operational. Replace the batteries, whether they need it or not.
  • Add weather-stripping as required on the inside of doors and windows.
  • Purchase and install window insulation kits to cover inefficient windows from the inside to prevent heat loss and ice build-up on windows.
  • Give ceiling fans a quick cleaning, oil the motors, and reverse the direction in which they turn to push warm air back down into the room.
  • Remove window-mounted air conditioners and cover central air conditioning units to keep the snow off of them.
  • Clean your clothes dryer vent from the inside and the outside of the house to remove potential obstructions.
  • With several additional hours of daily darkness just around the corner consider installing night lighting in hallways especially around staircases and hallways.

On the outside

  • Have a walk around the roof of your home to look for loose, damaged or missing roofing material. Inspect for cracks in the flashing seals around skylights, chimneys and vent stacks.
  • While you’re up there, give the gutters a quick cleaning to make sure that water can run freely in the spring. Clogged gutters can allow water to back up against the house causing damage to roofing material and siding. Worse, excess water will fall over the outside edge of the gutter reaching the ground near your foundation wall. Finally, an excess build-up in gutters produces stress to the systems supporting the gutter and can reduce life.
  • Make sure that the extensions on your downspouts are carrying water four to five feet from the foundation wall and that the grading of soil surrounding the house is diverting the flow of water away from the foundation wall, and not towards it.
  • Terminate the water source to all exterior taps and sprinklers and open all exterior valves to ensure proper and complete drainage.
  • Underground sprinkler systems should be blown out to prevent water lingering below ground in the system’s pipes from freezing.
  • Tidy up your landscaping by pruning shrubs and tree branches away from the house, particularly those that might encroach on the roof, gable venting or overhead utility lines.
  • Clear the areas around foundation walls to prevent build-up of debris and leafy material, which can trap moisture at the foundation wall.
  • Inspect foundation walls and exterior vents to ensure that you’re not providing easy access to rodents seeking a warm place to stay over the winter.
  • Apply exterior caulking around windows and doors as needed. Even a small opening can allow a lot of heat to escape from your home. Homes with wood siding and windows that protrude past the siding material should only be caulked on the sides and at the top. Some opening beneath the sill provides an area through which moisture can escape from exterior walls.
  • Seal cracks in the exterior finish of buildings and cracks in flat concrete surfaces to prevent water penetration that can freeze and expand causing further damage.
  • Lubricate hinges including those on overhead garage doors.
  • Tune-up electric garage door openers.
  • It’s time to put the summer toys away and crack out the winter goodies. You know, ice scrapers, shovels, snowblowers, etc.
  • Remove fuel from gas-powered yard care equipment and run the equipment continuously until all remaining fuel has been burned.
  • If you do the Christmas lights thing, they’ll be a lot more fun to install in October than December.


Wishing you all a wonderful and short winter.


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: September 2-8, 2012

Last week, Saskatoon’s residential real estate market took a big plunge. This week it slipped even more falling by ten sales to just 58 (houses and condos) to reach its lowest level since the week of March 11. On a year-over-year basis, the numbers look more stable. During the same week last year only 61 sales were recorded in these categories. I’m expecting that we’ll see a pretty good surge in sales over the next week, based entirely on the experiences of my team this week. Many of the properties that we have attempted to show were reporting conditional sales.


New Saskatoon real estate listings added to the MLS® also declined on a weekly basis dropping seven units to 110 to finish 12 listings ahead of the same week last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Total active listings on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® grew for the first time in three weeks gaining eight units on the previous week to close at 1195 down just 79 units from where it stood precisely one year ago. Today’s inventory consists of 729 single-family homes and 393 condominiums. At the same time last year, those numbers stood at 763 and 453 respectively.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



The four week run on sales exceeding $1-million dollars ended this week with the most expensive Saskatoon home sale ringing in at just over 900K. Still, a higher level of interest at the upper end of the market pushed the weekly median price up more than twelve thousand dollasrs to 343,000. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home reached its highest point for any week ever at $370,141.The six-week average also claimed a new high as it grew by about six thousand dollars from last week to close at $351,625 for an annual gain of nearly forty thousand dollars. The four-week median price picked up about $2,400 on the week to finish at $328,950 for year-over-year growth of more than thirty thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Overbid Saskatoon home sales were on the quieter side as just one seller closed a deal for more than the asking price. That buyer paid an additional $10,100 to call the home theirs. Meanwhile, another seven buyers stepped up and paid the full asking price to close their deal while 50 of this week’s 58 sales closed below list price by an average of $10,586.


Other notable MLS® activity this week included 39 canceled and withdrawn listings,  22 expired listings and 50 price adjustments.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.


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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 residential real estate sales volume breaks $1 billion in August 2012: SRAR


The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for August of 2012 today accompanied by the following release.


The total residential dollar volume for homes sold within the city of Saskatoon for 2012 exceeded $1 billion by the end of August, two months ahead of last year. The year-to-year number of transactions is up nine percent over last year while the number of new listings is on par with 2011. “Although the sales activity for August was down compared to August of 2011 the average sale price rose eight percent to $330,597,” according to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. “Saskatoon has experienced strong sales overall in 2012 with a total of 4,049 sales in the city compared with 3,718 by this time in 2011.”Currently, there are a total of 1,234 active listings in Saskatoon which represents just over two listings per REALTOR®.



Sales under $250,000 remained consistent with 2011 while there were considerably more sales above $250,000 which aids in pushing up the average price. “By the end of August there were 251 sales over $500,000 compared with 162 for the same period last year including 9 sales over $1,000,000,” says Yochim.


The rural market surrounding Saskatoon also experienced a slowdown in the number of transactions in August, down nineteen percent when compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date, total unit sales of 775 represent a five percent increase over 2011. The year-to-date average selling price in the market outside Saskatoon remains virtually unchanged at $282,452.


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 me.


Norm Fisher

RoyalLePage Vidorra

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The Canadian housing market continued to show “signs of cooling” throughout the second quarter but modest price growth and interest rate increases caused affordability to erode in most areas of the country, according to the most recent RBC Housing Trends and Affordability study released this week.
 
A “brisk market” in Saskatchewan brought strong demand while “a relatively low supply” of homes saw the scale “tipping in favour of sellers” who experienced stronger than average price increases across the quarter pushing home ownership costs higher.
 
Read the full report 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 me.
 
Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra
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Saskatoon real estate week in review: August 26 - September 1, 2012


This week, Saskatoon real estate sales numbers came off of the previous week’s big bounce and slipped to their lowest point since early April. Local agents reported just 68 house and condominium sales to the Saskatoon multiple listings service®, down 26 properties from last week to finish a whopping 35 sales below numbers generated during the same week last year.


New Saskatoon real estate listings also increased on a weekly basis growing by 11 to hit 117. Last year during the same week, Saskatoon real estate agents brought just 104 new listings to the MLS® service.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.



Meanwhile, the total inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category saw its second consecutive weekly decline and fell below the 1200 mark for the first time in 16 weeks. As the week’s business drew to close buyers had a selection of 1197 residential properties for sale in Saskatoon, down just 15 homes from the previous week’s close and about 80 fewer than were available at the same point in the previous year. Today’s tallies show 737 single-family homes and just 392 condos, down from 768 and 454 respectively when compared against inventory levels at this time last year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.




The roll on sales exceeding one-million dollars continued for the fourth consecutive week. That big number spread over a smaller number of sales pushed the average sale price of a Saskatoon home higher, towards our annual peak to reach $357,391. The median sale price followed along and grew to $330,700. The six-week median price edged higher by about eight thousand dollars on the week to reach $345,708 and claimed a year-over-year gain of about thirty-three thousand dollars or roughly ten percent. The four-week median price inched up about a thousand dollars from the previous week to $326,500 and managed a year-over-year increase of about thirty-four thousand dollars.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.




Overbid Saskatoon home sales almost failed to appear. Just one buyer placed an offer with a price that exceeding the list price. That deal closed $1,100 above the asking price. Another 10 buyers paid full price to close their deal while 57 of this week’s 68 deals closed below the asking price by an average of $10,758. \\\\\\\\\Other notable MLS® activity this week included 30 canceled and withdrawn listings,  17 expired listings and 42 price adjustments.


Click the image for a larger version of the chart.



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 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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