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October 9th to 12th is Affordable Housing Week in Saskatoon. Presented by the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, Affordable Housing Week presents a variety of events in support of “attractive, affordable, innovative, sustainable and green housing initiatives in Saskatoon.”


Interested? Check the agenda here (no longer available).



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

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According to a new report by Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan experienced the largest increase in retail sales when compared to all other Canadian provinces between July 2006 and July 2007. Retail sales in Saskatchewan surged ahead 11.5% during the study period, well above the national average of 3.8%. Alberta was second amongst the provinces showing growth of 8.4%.

Retail market showing the most growth included automotive, building and home supplies, home furnishings, pharmacies and general merchandise. Sales in food and beverage saw a slight decline of 1.1%

I thought this was an interesting follow up to Consumer spending about to peak in Saskatchewan.

Read the Star Phoenix story 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

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Doug Elliot, publisher of the Sask Trends Monitor newsletter is warning that consumer spending has “gone into some kind of bubble that’s going to burst.” In a Star Phoenix story titled, “Sask. Consumer spending expected to peak soon” Elliot warns that the big spending spree has to end sometime. He sees that “sometime” looming, perhaps as soon as early 2008.


Elliot notes that massive spending in Saskatchewan is based partly on economic reality to the extent that employment and incomes in the province have increased, but he adds that a variety of psychological factors that are hard to quantify have been encouraging people to spend more money, raising concerns that the level of consumer debt is increasing while savings are decreasing.


One of those factors is related to increasing property values which tend to “make homeowners feel richer and thus more inclined to spend,” says Elliot.


Read also: Your Saskatoon home is not your second income


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

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The Conference Board of Canada announced today that Saskatoon will replace Calgary as Canada’s economic growth leader in 2007. Calgary has topped the list of Canadian municipalities for the last two years.


The Conference Board’s website provides this single highlight from their “Saskatoon: Metropolitan Outlook” report which sells for $725. “This year’s real GDP growth of 4.7 per cent in Saskatoon will prompt employment to advance by 4.8 per cent.”


CBC’s web coverage can be found here


Of course, this is excellent news for a market which has seen housing price increases in excess of 50% in almost all housing categories. For months, many have been asking “when will the rest of the economy catch up?” Perhaps your raise is on its way.


A tip of the hat to “Jedi” for the heads up on this story.


Read also: RBC predicts solid economic growth for Saskatchewan in 2007 & 2008


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

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If learning that Saskatoon will be the economic growth leader in Canada this year wasn’t enough for you, check out this report written by Bank of Nova Scotia economist Adrienne Warren which sees Edmonton and Saskatoon homes as the most “overvalued” in Canada.


Warren’s report indicates that Canadian house prices have “deviated from historical averages” by 8% this year while Saskatoon has deviated by 21% and Edmonton prices have increased 25% ahead of historical norms.


Read the Globe’s 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

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Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released its third quarter Housing Market Outlook this morning which is predicting solid growth for Saskatchewan through 2008.



“After the poorest report in Canada last year, economic growth in Saskatchewan will rebound significantly with a 4% gain in 2007 and a 3.3% expansion next year. This will place Saskatchewan among the economic growth leaders through 2008.”


“The domestic consumer will contribute to the economic recovery, thanks to rapidly expanding migration, employment and income.”


Read the full report here (Saskatchewan report on page 12)


Also read: RBC predicts solid economic growth for Saskatchewan in 2007 and 2008



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

Read

While the Saskatoon real estate market “booms” and the net worth of Saskatoon property owners grows, something else is growing, and it’s not so pretty. It’s the growing gap between the rich and the poor.


In a front page story from today’s Star Phoenix titled, “Poverty in the Midst of Plenty,” Graham Andrews provides a compelling story about how this rapidly changing market is impacting those at the lower end of the earning spectrum. I’m talking about hard working people who bust their butts to earn $1,000 a month only to see their incomes gobbled up by increasing rents. As rents continue to climb, and wages remain stagnant or show little growth, there’s less money left for life’s little luxuries; like food for instance.


The Saskatoon Food Bank and Saskatoon’s Friendship Inn are both seeing a growing need for their services. Would it surprise you to learn that the number of seniors requiring assistance from the Saskatoon Food Bank has increased by more than 100% in recent months?


Are you pleased by your recent gains in the Saskatoon real estate market?Have you made a pile of money from your “real estate investments?” Perhaps you’re a local agent having the year of your career. Maybe you’ve recently sold your Saskatoon home for a price that leaves you feeling grateful. Why not give something back to the Saskatoon community?Why not send a cheque to one or both of these very worthy causes today?


The Saskatoon Food Bank

202 Avenue C South

Saskatoon, SKS7M 1N2


Friendship Inn

619 20th Street West

Saskatoon, SKS7M 0X8


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

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In a report titled, “Migration Drives Saskatchewan Housing Market and Economy,” RBC is predicting that Saskatchewan’s economy will grow by 4% in 2007, and 3.6% in 2008, outpacing the Canadian economy and all but two other provinces.


“After ten years of declining population, the province is enjoying its largest migration surge in 25 years,” said Craig Wright, vice-president and chief economist, RBC. “It has sparked a sudden housing boom that can be seen by increased construction activity, a massive pop in house prices particularly in Saskatoon, and a lift to consumer spending.”


The report also says, “caution is warranted regarding the sustainability of house prices” noting that it’s far too early to call this migration shift permanent.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. 


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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The CanadaWest Foundation just released a report titled, “Urban Quality of Life and Urban Growth” which is based on survey responses gathered through interviews with 3,500 respondents in seven Canadian cities.


It seems that the highest “quality of life rating” was found right here in Saskatoon where close to 90% of those surveyed rated the local life as “good” or “very good.”Personally, I didn’t see what I’d consider being remarkable differences from one city to the next in this particular category, but one does get the sense that Saskatchewan people are a little more optimistic about the future when compared to respondents from other cities surveyed. Almost 58% of Saskatoon residents expect that quality of life will improve even more over the next five years, a stark contrast when compared to Calgarians who don’t seem to hold much hope for future improvements.


The responses measured in this study include;


The current quality of life in the city;

The current quality of life in the city compared to five years ago;

Expectations for quality of life in the future;

The attractiveness of downtown;

Protect historic buildings;

Population growth;

Population size; and

Population diversity



My discovery of this report was a timely coincidence.


I had just been reading an article about Saskatoon on an Alberta bubble blog in which one commenter, Groucho, bashed the crap out of Saskatoon.


Following a visit to both Saskatoon and Regina Groucho says, “People jaywalk like crazy all around you…the homeless all have bicycles…Saskatoon and Regina both have a lot of poor people (all riding bikes, of course) A lot of drugs and alcohol problems. It looks like a ghost town in some places…every single house we drove by has an alarm. Apparently they have a lot of crime there…there really is no culture to speak of…I don't want to bash Saskatoon and Regina here, but cheaper housing does not always equal a better quality of living.”


Well, thank you for restraining yourself and not bashing us!


It’s rare that I hear such a critical and condescending review of Saskatoon from anyone who has actually been here. You have to wonder if this guy actually found Saskatoon. Fortunately, he seems to have found his way back home.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. 


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert says that his government is “gearing up” for another advertising blitz in Alberta to promote our province as a great place to live, according to a front-page story in today’s Star Phoenix.


While it’s hard to argue that a province shouldn’t promote its benefits abroad, someone seems to be unaware of the fact that Saskatoon home buyers are reaching their wit's end trying to find a good home to buy. Many have made offers on a number of properties, often tens of thousands of dollars above the asking price, and they still find no love.


MLS® housing inventory dropped to a critically low level of approximately 250 listings by the end of 2006. Today there are 249 single-family homes and condos on the system, most of those already conditionally sold. We’re seeing sharp price increases in every category of housing with some increasing as much as 70% since the start of the year.


My question to Mr. Calvert? Where are we going to put them when they get here sir?


Somehow, it just seems like the wrong time to be “gearing up” with this particular campaign. Let’s hope that the government updates its creative message, at the very least. Premier Calvert’s claim, “If you have any home ownership in Calgary these days, you can sell here, buy a home in Saskatchewan and be free and clear with your mortgage, likely own a cottage, and maybe one of two rental properties” is getting a little old.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. 


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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Dwight Percy has an interesting article in the business section of today’s Star Phoenix titled, “High local housing prices are still below average” which is definitely worth reading.


Percy points out that while Saskatoon house prices have seen sharp increases over the last quarter, local homes are still trading well below the national average of $294,880 reported by the Canadian Real Estate Association at the end of February. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home topped $200,000 for the first time in March.


He asks, “Does it make any degree of sense that this market sits at only about two-thirds of the Canadian average?”


He makes some interesting points. If his prediction is accurate, the average price of a Saskatoon home will have doubled in just two years. The idea may have seemed outrageous just a few months ago but one now has to wonder given the momentum which this market seems to have. Consider that the averages we’re seeing now are likely skewed down by a large amount of activity in the entry-level condo and house market and the possibility seems even more realistic. It seems to me that there are a large number of pretty “average” homes trading at or above the quarter-million-dollar mark already.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. 


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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The front page of today’s Star Phoenix says, “Tenants feel the pinch: Heated market driving increases in rental charges.”


The story references the predicament of a Saskatoon woman, Marilyn LePage who faces her third rent increase in the last twelve months. She has written a letter to the city council asking, “What can be done to keep rent increases and frequencies under control for myself and other Saskatoon citizens?”


The answer she received was sure to disappoint as the council made it clear that “rent controls” fall outside of the local jurisdiction. City solicitor Theresa Dust reminded those present of past attempts by the province to place controls on rents and noted that it produced “poor results.”


This is one of the sad realities of a real estate market that is experiencing a growth spurt. It affects almost everyone, and those who don’t own their own a home can be affected the most. They not only move further away from owning a home due to the increased cost of housing, but they inevitably pay the price in higher rental costs as market values increase.


I expect that we’ll hear many more stories like Ms. LePage’s over the coming year. East-side apartment-style condos are now selling in excess of $130,000.An investor who purchases such a unit with 25% down will face carrying costs of over $850 per month not including maintenance or insurance. At present, that same unit has a market rent of about $700.Assuming the unit is occupied every month of the year, the landlord is a couple of thousand dollars shy of covering expenses. They won’t be excited about that for very long.


At the same time, vacancy rates are falling across the city and that trend is expected to continue as more people move back to Saskatoon. Condo conversions will likely remove a number of units from the rental market over the next two years.


Ultimately, rents are subject to the principle of supply and demand just like resale real estate is. More renters and fewer rental units equal higher rent payments. It’s pretty much unavoidable.


I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. 


Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Vidorra

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