This past week delivered more of the same to the Saskatoon real estate market as new residential listings continued to be offered up at a pace we haven’t seen in quite some time. In total, 265 new listings were entered to the Saskatoon MLS system including 193 single-family homes (houses) and 55 condos. The total residential listing inventory finished the week at 962 units, up from 844 last week. Home buyers are encouraged by a fairly decent selection of homes in almost every area of Saskatoon.
86 sales of houses and condos were recorded, down slightly from last week but matching the performance that we saw during the same week last year. Demand remains remarkably high given the sharp price increases that we’ve experienced over the past year, but it’s not hard to see how significantly the market has changed as we quickly move towards balance. Saskatoon homes are still selling well, but stiff competition amongst sellers drove average selling times to 23 days last week, up from just 9 days for the same week last year.
I note though that expired listings remain quite low. There have only been 10 in this category since April 1, which leads me to believe that there is a lot of recycling going on in the listing arena. Often times, agents will cancel and re-list a property if the seller has chosen to reduce the asking price.They do this because “new listings” have a special place of prominence in the local MLS system and the change is more likely to be noticed by buyer’s agents. 100 listed properties did make price adjustments last week so some sellers are obviously keen on getting a deal done before inventory climbs much higher, and perhaps fearing that we’ll pass right by “balance” and enter a buyer’s market.
The number of homes that were “overbid” remained fairly consistent with last week, as did the average dollar amount.
Average selling prices crept up some, settling at $297,067 compared to $290,346 the week before.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra