Saskatoon real estate sales edged higher again for the third consecutive week as local agents reported a total of 89 house and condominium sales to the Saskatoon MLS®. That total is four units higher than the previous week, and up 14 from the total sales reported during the same week last year. Meanwhile, new MLS® listings plummeted, falling 42 units from the previous week to just 82 houses and condos to finish lower than the same week a year ago by 17. This is the smallest number of new house and condo listings for any week this year. It’s also the only week in which sales actually exceeded the number of new listings that were added to the system. Click the image for a larger version of the graph.
Slowing listing activity and month end expired listings caused the total number of active residential listings of the Saskatoon multiple listing service® to decline. As of this morning, there are 1207 residential listings showing an active status. That’s down 84 units from the close of the previous week and 67 fewer homes than were available at the same point in 2010. Saskatoon home buyers can find 723 houses and 420 condominiums for sale within Saskatoon, down from 766 and 437 respectively at this time a year ago. While demand continues to be higher than might be expected for this time of year, inventory seems to be following a fairly typical path for the season. Inventory levels; particularly with single-family homes priced below $500,000 have started to slip into potential “seller’s market” territory. Still, buyers are not allowing themselves to by swept away into irrational behavior. Sellers who are priced too high, or are offering improperly staged listings are finding no love in today’s market. Click the image for a larger version of the graph. 
Cancelled and withdrawn listings declined to just 42 units this week. All but 15 of those did a same day return to the MLS® system, most at a new price. An additional 59 Saskatoon home sellers adjusted the price on their existing listing. Another 66 listings came to the end of their term and expired without a sale. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home bounced higher gaining more than $12,000 from last week to finish at $324,740. At least some portion of those gains can be attributed to high-end home sales. This week’s numbers include a sale above one million dollars, and a couple of others that were pretty close to that number. Still, the median sale price of a Saskatoon home slipped lower compared to last week. It finished at $297,200 for a weekly decline of nearly $8,000. Meanwhile, both of the longer-term price measures that I track continued to push higher. The six-week average price edged up by about $3,500 and reached $317,765 for an annual gain of about $6,000. It hasn’t been this high since early June and is close to peak levels for the year. The four-week median price gained a little more climbing from $300,000 last week to $304,000 for a year-over-year gain of $10,000. Click the image for a larger version of the graph. 
Overbid sales took an upward turn as four sellers completed a deal for more than their asking price. The average overbid jumped way up to $9,600 thanks to one sale that went $26,000 over list. Another nine sellers bagged a full price offer while 76 of 89 closed deals required some give and take that left those sellers short of their list price by an average of $9,404. 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