A media release from The Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) follows regarding September 2015 residential real estate sales in Saskatoon and area.
Please note that the association’s comments often touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some of their comments may address sales within the association’s full trading area. The charts that you see on these posts, as always, reflect data for activity within the city if Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past five years.
September home sales in Saskatoon were down 16 percent compared to September of 2014 and 12 percent lower year-to-date. In the opinion of Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®, "We have to keep in perspective that 2014 was an exceptional year for real estate and these lower numbers are consistent with the five-year average for sales. We are actually doing quite well through the economic challenges when compared to some other western Canadian cities."
Inventory levels within Saskatoon continue to hover at just over 2,000 available properties. Many of the listed properties are new homes and many of these are condominium units. "Almost half of the available inventory is located east of Circle Drive,” adds Yochim. "As builders feel the pinch, we can expect to see vacant condo units hit the rental market."
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The average home sale price of $353,587 continues to hold steady but is expected to start a slight decline with slower sales. The median sale price, on the other hand, has shown a slight decline to $330,000. According to the Multiple Listing Service®, homes were selling for just under 90 percent of the average asking price in September, the widest margin since last August. In the past couple of years, this percentage has typically been in the low to mid 90's. With a buyer’s market, it is expected that it will be more challenging for sellers to see offers close to their asking price if they are not sensitive to the market. "It's important to keep in mind that in any market a properly priced home will sell in a short period of time for top dollar if it is priced right from the start,” says Yochim. "This is not a market for speculation and overpricing."
The sales-to-listing ratio for September was 37 percent which is calculated by dividing the number of new properties listed for sale by the number of sales for the same period. A ratio of 40 percent or less indicates a buyer’s market while a ratio in excess of 60 percent is considered a seller’s market. On average in 2014 the market was firmly balanced while in 2015 it has shifted in favour of buyers.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra