Numbers recently released by Statistics Canada show the Saskatoon central market area being the nation's population growth leader for the third consecutive year.

Read more here.

Saskatoon's business leaders continue to have high expectations for the future growth of our city, according this article from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix that ran on the weekend.

Addressing a recent KMPG report that indicated Saskatoon is the "most tax-competitive city in the country," Tim LeClair, president and CEO of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority told the Star Phoenix that his office dealt with 443 companies who requested information on doing business in the city last year.

More from this story. Kent Smith-Windsor, executive director of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, says this current growth trend for Saskatoon could be comparable to the historic boom in the city from 1903 to 1913. He admits the city may have underestimated its capacity to grow. He points to the city's unemployment rate remaining steady at below five per cent in 2012 despite adding 12,000 new jobs during the same time period.

Overall Smith-Windsor's forecast for 2013 is a little more cloudy than he expected for 2012, but only because 2012 "met and almost exceeded our expectations." He added, "Everything we're seeing the next five years will be as good as or better than the previous five years in terms of the future of Saskatchewan. This is robust. This is real."

Read the Star Phoenix story here.

The referenced KPMG report 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

Last week, I wrote a brief post providing details on the Saskatchewan Party’s plan to provide a tax credit to first-time home buyers that would save then up to $1,100 when purchasing their first home. I’ve just been reviewing the housing strategy for the New Democratic Party (NDP), which is substantially more comprehensive. According to their platform brochure, the NDP plans to implement the following housing initiatives should they end up forming a government following the November 7 election.

• Rebating the PST on construction materials for new houses to be priced under $280,000; and
• Rebating the PST on the first $10,000 in repairs to homes more than ten years old.
• Investing $20 million into co-operative and community organizations to buy land for housing.
• Providing first-time homebuyers a $2,000 grant to cover closing costs and other related expenses for homes purchased for under $280,000.
• Offering interest-free loans to co-operatives and community organization building new housing stock.
• Ending unfair rent increases through next-generation rent control. We will  introduce rent control that makes allowances for new construction and non-corporate landlords.
• Investing $230 million to create 2,500 new public rental units, with 1,000 units dedicated to student accommodation, and to upgrade existing units by working with community organizations and co-operatives.
• Making a commitment to end homelessness with $20 million targeted to a “Housing First” approach, based on the belief that a stable place to live is a basic right and a critical building block to helping individuals gain stability in their own lives.
• Adding 750 new subsidized affordable assisted-living units, with special attention paid to building these onto long-term care homes so that couples who require different levels of care can stay together.
• Providing a property tax rebate of $500 per year to senior homeowners and renters.
• Introducing the Credit for Caring refundable tax credit of up to $1,000 per year to individuals providing care to elderly or disabled relatives or friends.
• Guaranteeing Saskatchewan residents the lowest-cost bundle of utilities in the country.

Read the NDP’s platform brochure here. Read the Saskatchewan Party’s platform brochure 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. Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here. Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

You might call it hype. You might call it a “glimmer of hope” in a pretty tough time. I’d call it a home run for

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wallwho managed to pique

It started as a story titled, “Saskatchewan: Thousands of jobs open if you don’t mind the moose” and it quickly became “the most viewed and second most emailed story on the media giant’s website” according to Star Phoenix writer Cassandra Kyle in her story from today’s newspaper. Check the CNN story here. Cassandra Kyle’s coverage is 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.

Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

Murray Prokosh, owner of CCL Classic Communities, a home builder operating out of Medicine Hat Alberta believes that prosperity shouldn’t always be measured by the bottom line. Addressing a crowd of locals at a National Affordable Housing Conference in Saskatoon this week, Prokosh promoted the ideas a quality build, at an affordable price, with the ultimate reward of helping those who might not otherwise find a way to home ownership.

Since 2002, CCL Communities has built over 1,000 homes in Medicine Hat and High River, Alberta. In a Star Phoenix article published on February 28, the builder claims to have sold those units from $23,000 to $67,000 below market value. Their corporate website states that over $8,000,000 in profits have been given back to home buyers through reduced sale prices and incentives.

“If you just want to build affordable housing and do it for a profit-you’re just not going to do it…You wouldn’t believe the amount of tear we’ve seen shed over these houses,” Prokosh told the crowd.

Prokosh is “considering” bringing his mission and vision to Saskatoon.

Thanks to Jedi for the prompt on this one.

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

Statistics Canada’s latest income report contains some good news for the province. Saskatchewan led the country for overall income growth seeing average weekly earnings increase by 5.4%, compared to the 3.1% growth experienced nationally. Average weekly earnings in the province rose to $742.62 in December of 2007, from $704.79 in December of 2006. Saskatchewan also saw one of the largest decreases in Employment Insurance recipients.

If you’re looking for the negative nugget in this story, you could point to the fact that average weekly incomes in Saskatchewan still lag behind the national average of $782.02 and well below Alberta, the province we seem desperate to become where the average weekly income is $860.31.

Hopefully with the momentum that Saskatchewan seems to have 2008 will be the year that incomes catch up with the rest of the country.

Read the Star Phoenix coverage here

Read the StatsCan 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.

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

The City of Cleveland is suing 21 mortgage lenders for damages that they claim to have incurred as a result of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage fallout. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson compares the resulting chaos to “organized crime activity on neighborhoods, cities and individual lives, sucking equity out” and says that city has been devastated by the negligence of lenders who signed off on deals they know they shouldn’t have made.

Cleveland, one of America’s poorest urban areas has seen over 7,000 foreclosures through both 2006 and 2007. In some areas of the city entire blocks of houses are abandoned, boarded up, and stripped of anything valuable. Most often, they ultimately meet a wrecking ball at the tax payer’s expense.

The City is claiming hundreds of millions in damages which result from lost tax revenue, the cost of demolished abandoned homes and the added cost of policing neighbourhoods which have become dangerous due to high rates of abandonment.

Mayor Jackson says, “We have to hold accountable those who are responsible.”

CNN 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.

Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

When real estate prices see rapid and substantial change, it’s easy to lose sight of what that really means in terms of affordability. I thought it might be interesting to look back a few short years to show you how very different the Saskatoon real estate market looks today.

The two Saskatoon homes featured in this post sold approximately 3 years apart, following a reasonable period of time on the market.

The property pictured at left, sold at the end of November in 2004. It was on the market for about a month and sold for $212,500. Built in 1983, it’s located in Lawson Heights on a nice cul-de-sac featuring a wedge shaped lot of approximately 7,900 square feet. It has a double attached garage with a direct entry to the home. It also offers a fully finished and heated workshop in the back yard which measures 18’ x 24’. The house itself has 1,960 square feet of living space, if you include the 12’ x 20’ heated sunroom with large windows overlooking the well landscaped yard. You can enjoy the pleasant and private view from inside of the included hot tub, or from the back yard deck. Most of the flooring has been replaced in recent years. All but a couple of windows have been upgraded and there’s a brand new natural gas furnace as well. Additional features included a developed basement, a three-piece ensuite and walk-in closet, central air conditioning, central vacuum, water softener, home security system and a wood burning fireplace surrounded by custom built oak cabinets in the main floor family room.

The property pictured at right sold in December of 2007. It sold for the asking price of $219,900 after three weeks on the market. Built in 1960, the home sits on a large landscaped lot of approximately 6,700 square feet. It’s situated on a busy Mount Royal area street. There is no existing garage. It’s 851 square feet on the main level, but it does have a full basement which is easily ready for re-development. It has some nice upgrades including laminate flooring and new light fixtures, and a “newer” furnace, windows and exterior doors. There’s a nice deck, in a pretty yard. It also has a functional central air conditioning system.

When we look at changes to the “average selling price” we see some pretty shocking changes over a short period of time. This little demonstration puts a proper perspective on how much things have really changed in the Saskatoon housing market. I can agree with those who say that this market was undervalued three years ago but given that incomes in this area have experienced fairly marginal gains over the same period of time one can easily understand why a few voices are saying, “enough already.” Something seems to have gone horribly wrong in Saskatoon housing.

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

In their latest Provincial Outlook, RBC has downgraded projections for economic growth in Saskatchewan over 2008 and 2009, but still expects the provincial economy to perform better than all other provinces, except Alberta. In spite of this short-term downgrade, RBC does seem particularly bullish on the potential for Saskatchewan’s future providing that “the risks of overheated housing and commodity cycles” are properly managed.

RBC economists point to a heated Saskatchewan economy through 2007, which was largely driven by a “sharp reversal in net-migration outflows to inflows, the resulting pick-up in housing markets, strength in job gains, and high commodity prices.”

However, RBC warns that “cracks are appearing” in Saskatchewan’s economy.“Strained housing affordability that has pushed into record territory will crimp housing demand going forward because robust price gains are considerably out of whack with underlying fundamentals.”

“However, a variety of capital investments will support the non-residential sector… If Saskatchewan plays its cards right, then its early fortunes could become an embarrassment of riches for a small population through the triple play of diamond mining, renewed interest in developing its rich uranium deposits and a quickening pace of development in the immensely rich but challenging Bakken formation thanks to high oil prices and better technology… This offers Alberta-style future economic potential for a 70% smaller population, but requires managing the risks of overheated housing and commodity cycles.”

Read the RBC Provincial Outlook 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.

Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

Some have called him extreme, angry and bitter.

Some have called him a good-hearted soul with a social conscience.

MacLean’s, Canada’s national news magazine called him for an interview!

He is Alexander Trauzzi, also known in this fine online community as “Alex.” He joined us early on and he’s been a regular commenter on the Saskatoon Real Estate Resource Centre Blog ever since, openly sharing his concerns and frustrations over the changes which have been occurring in this city over the past year. Recently, he had an opportunity to speak with Jason Kirby, a business writer for MacLean’s and he is formally introduced to us in the opening paragraph of the current issue’s cover story titled, “Is it a bubble? Is it about to burst?”

This was not the Saskatoon Alex Trauzzi remembered.

A few years ago, Trauzzi, 24, had been drawn to the Prairie town for work and grew to love it. He met his fiancée there. And he vowed that after finishing college in his hometown of Winnipeg, the couple would return and buy their first home there. "We saw it as a great place for fresh starts," he says.

But when the couple moved back to Saskatoon earlier this year, Trauzzi scarcely recognized the place. The housing market was ablaze with bidding wars, double-digit monthly price gains and frenzied speculation. Modest bungalows that had sold for $187,000 in the fall of 2006 were by spring changing hands again for $280,000, without so much as a fresh coat of paint. It was insane. Trauzzi, a service technician, felt there was no way he could afford those kinds of prices for a starter home. So after just nine months, he fled back to Winnipeg where he bought a home earlier this month for slightly more than $120,000. Not a moment too soon. Even the Peg is quickly becoming unrecognizable thanks to real estate fervour. "I could easily turn around and sell my house for five or 10 grand more than I paid for it," he says, with a note of astonishment in his voice. "I don't know if there's a bubble that's going to burst or not, but if there is something that's going to happen, it's going to happen right across the country."

Trauzzi isn't alone in feeling anxious about the housing market. Across the country, the B-word is on the lips of Canadians.

You can find the entire text of the online version of this interesting story here. Whatever you might choose to call Alex, you certainly can’t call him a liar, or even a bluffer. He told us several months ago that he’d be out of here if the market didn’t smarten up. Now, he’s gone and it really is a shame that this educated young man and his fiancée felt that they had little chance of making a start here. Is Alex’s moving a sign of things to come? Have changes in the Saskatoon real estate market frustrated our young citizens to the point that they feel Saskatoon no longer offers them a future? Is it a bubble? Is it about to burst? Let’s talk. I’ll start. First, let me say that I think this is a timely, well written story. It’s a story that we should all be interested in talking about. The answers to the questions posed will impact us all regardless of whether or not a bubble exists. Having said all of that, I’ll point out my complaint about the story, only because complaints seem to be better discussion starters than compliments. J MacLean’s directs us to the Demographia Housing Affordability survey to make the case that “house prices, even in some of Canada’s hottest markets, almost look like a bargain.”The report’s cover page tells us that the data used in the study is from Q3/2006. I wrote about the release of the study way back in January. Since then, U.S. housing prices have tumbled in some areas, the average selling price of a home in Canada is up at least 10%, and prices have increased 40-60% in some prairie cities. How is this study even relevant some 15 months later?

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

According to a Statistics Canada population report released today, Saskatchewan has passed the one million mark for the first time since 2001. The province’s population was estimated to have reached 1,003,300 by October 1, 2007 an increase of 6,400 people since July, making it the country’s fastest growing province. According to the report, the provincial population has been “on the rebound” since the fourth quarter of 2006 when it bottomed out at 986,900 people.

Interprovincial migration accounted for two-thirds of the growth and was primarily fueled by people who returned to Saskatchewan from Alberta.

Who doesn’t know someone who moved back to Saskatchewan this year?

Read the StatsCan release 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.

Norm Fisher Royal LePage Vidorra

The Edmonton real estate market may be starting to show some positive signs with active residential listings dropping around 10% in recent months, but this ad makes it obvious that some seller’s are motivated and ready to do what needs to be done to attract a buyer.

Edmonton builder, Coventry Homes is lobbing out an offer which I’ve never seen before - “…buy one of Coventry’s feature semi-detached or single-family show homes and you’ll get a 2008 City Golf at no additional cost.”

Is now a good time to buy an Edmonton home? Ask Sheldon or Sara. They seem to really know their market.

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