Saskatoon real estate agents were on a bit of a roll this week, producing sale numbers that outpaced all but one of the past 18 weeks. A total of 109 house and condo sales were reported to the Saskatoon multiple listing service®, up 28 deals compared to the previous week to top sales reported for the same period last year by 13. You might find it interesting to know that as of today, total residential sales for the year are at 4,018. That’s the highest number ever recorded for year-to-date home sales in Saskatoon by October 31. It’s a very active market.
The number of new listings added to the the MLS ®system also made some gains as 157 new house and condo listings came onto the system over the one week period. That’s up just four from last week but sharply higher than listings that were entered during the same week last year when they had slipped to a paltry 106 homes.
Active Saskatoon real estate listings took a typical month end tumble as 81 property listings came to the end of their term without a sale and expired. The inventory of available MLS® listings fell to its lowest point since late June with just 1,514 homes for sale, down 47 from last week’s close, but still well up from levels recorded a year ago when 1284 properties had a for sale sign displayed on the front lawn. Taking a closer look by category we see 911 single-family homes offered for sale, up from 804 a year ago, and 453 condominiums, up from 391 at this time last year.
Prices were strong across the board as the average sale price of a Saskatoon home came in well above last week’s number at $369,766. The median price was more modest at $338,000 indicating an active week for buyers seeking homes with a lower than average asking price. The six-week average price made modest gains growing by less than two thousand dollars on the week to $360,049 for an annual gain of about seven thousand dollars. The four-week median took a larger jump picking up more than 10K compared to last week’s close to finish up at $350,000 even, about where it was a year earlier.
Above list offers were rare with just three buyers offering to pay more than the seller’s asking price. Those deals closed at an average of just $1,200 over. On the other side of the negotiating table, 92 buyers made off with a discount that averaged $10,428 while the remaining 14 transactions closed with a full price offer.
Other notable real estate activity this past week included 64 cancelled and withdrawn listings (57 and seven respectively), 81 expired listings and 67 price changes.
Highlights from the news this week
Derelict properties a growing problem - Star Phoenix
Residential property can bring a steady payoff - Globe and Mail
Sweden’s credit bubble a test case for Canada - Globe and Mail
Commercial real estate still in demand - Star Phoenix
CMHC forecast has housing starts steady and prices rising - The Star
Canadians spend more income on housing than almost anyone else - Globe and Mail
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An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra