Overall activity in the Saskatoon real estate market is up year-to-date with a 15 percent increase in listing activity and a 10 percent increase in sales. The most active price range continues to be with homes priced under $450,000.

Listing activity continued to be strong in May with 945 new properties added to the market. The total number of homes placed on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) year-to-date was 3,809, a 15 percent increase over 2013. Currently there are 3,178 properties available in the Saskatoon and area market with half of these homes in the city limits. With the total number of sales, year to date for Saskatoon and area at 2,528 units, Saskatoon is considered to be in a balanced market position overall with the sales to listing ratio at 52 percent.

The average sale price in Saskatoon year-to-date is just over $353,000 which is a three percent increase over the same period last year. By comparison, the median sale price is $340,000. According to the MLS® Home Price Index, the composite benchmark price for a typical single family home in Saskatoon is $327,000. This figure has been slowly trending upward since it saw a slight decline late in 2013. The index is similar to the Consumer Price Index which measures the trending value of a typical home measuring change in value over time.

The average time to sell a home on the MLS® system in Saskatoon is currently 36 days. "The ratio of sales to listings, inventory levels and days to sell will vary greatly depending on the area and price range,” according to Yochim.

There are more builders' homes now available on the MLS® in an attempt to increase exposure to the market. Based on a 36 percent increase in home sales between $500,000 and $750,000 in May, it appears that the strategy by home builders in placing their product on the MLS® is working. "Statistically, greater exposure through the MLS® results in stronger activity, less days to sell and a higher sale price,” states Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for April of 2014recently accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments (in italics) touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some may be based on all sales within the association’s full trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past several years.

Sales activity in the Saskatoon market continued to be strong, up eight percent year-over-year. Although sales activity has been strong in all price ranges this year, sales over $400,000 were five percent lower in April 2014 compared to April of last year. During this same period, the number of homes selling below $400,000 increased by 18 percent.

"A surplus in the inventory of homes priced in excess of $400,000 has created a buyer’s market, especially in new homes,” according to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®.  "The higher the price, the longer homes have been sitting on the market. This gets expensive especially for builders who are carrying these homes,” says Yochim. Of the active listings available priced over $500,000 it would take a year at the current rate of absorption to clear out the inventory, this time frame nearly doubles for homes above $600,000. This is quite a contrast to homes priced between $250,000 and $450,000 where there is only 2.6 months of inventory.

"A key element in pricing of new homes is the cost of land which many stakeholders fear is bringing "sticker shock" to purchasers in this price range,” adds Yochim. "To move inventory, developers are forced to reduce prices and cut margins." Comparatively, the cost of labor and materials has not experienced significant increases in the past couple of years.

In April, the median price in Saskatoon took its first drop this year from $348,000 to $341,000. There were 884 homes listed by Saskatoon REALTORS® in April which represents 31 percent of the total number of homes listed so far this year. The current inventory of active homes in Saskatoon is 1,443 which is an increase of 22 percent year-over-year. Based on the current rate of sales this represents 3.2 months of inventory which is just slightly below the five year average of 3.35 months.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for March of 2014recently accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments (in italics) touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some may be based on all sales within the association’s full trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past several years.

In the first quarter of the year 1,240 MLS® transactions occurred in the Saskatoon and region marketplace for a volume of $423 million, up 16 percent year-over-year. Listing activity is also up 19 percent over last year with just over 3,000 new listings added to the market. Sales activity has also been solid with a ten percent increase over the first quarter of last year. According to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®, "Consumer confidence remains strong across the board in all price ranges." Homes in the $500,000 to $750,000 range experienced the greatest change in sales increasing from 78 units in Q1 of 2013 to 118 units by the end of March this year representing a 51 percent increase. "The inventory of new homes seems to be moving again which often brings entry level homes to the market as families move up to their second home,” adds Yochim.

Currently the 1,349 homes on the MLS® within Saskatoon represent a 4.1 month supply of inventory, the lowest level since October of 2013 which had 3.9 months. Area 1, which includes several new neighbourhoods, had 154 sales in March and an existing inventory of 721 properties (4.7 months). Comparatively, Area 4, which includes many of the core neighbourhoods and mostly existing property sales saw 47 properties change hands on MLS® and currently has an inventory of 142 properties (3 months). "These numbers indicate that home owners and developers in certain neighbourhoods have to be patient in waiting for a sale or consider adjusting their asking prices for a quicker sale, as price and time to sell are inversely related,” states Yochim.

The benchmark value for a typical single family home in Saskatoon continued its upward trend to a value of $326,000. This value does not represent the average or median price but rather is a comparative value of single family homes in markets across Canada. The cities of Regina, Calgary, Toronto and Greater Vancouver had benchmark values of $314,100, $472,800, $574,000 and $945,700 respectively for comparable properties. By comparison, homes are still very affordable in Saskatoon.

See the Saskatoon MLS® stats for last month. See the Saskatoon MLS® stats for March of 2013.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for February of 2014recently accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some may be based on all sales within the association’s full trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past several years.

Active listings in the Saskatoon market reached 1,236 units at the end of February compared with 1,040 at this time in 2013. Inventory continued to climb in spite of a 14 percent increase in sales year-over-year. 

In February, there were 300 residential unit sales which is just slightly above the ten year average of 276. 

Click the images for a larger version of the chart. Meanwhile, new listings added to the market last month totalled 576 units which is 29 percent above the ten year average of 450 units for the month of February. There continues to be a large number of homes available in the new home market in the price range exceeding $450,000. This has recently resulted in sellers having to adjust their price to respond to the increase in inventory. Homes priced in the established areas below $400,000 continue to be in shorter supply and at times can see multiple offers. "Supply and demand cannot be ignored when it comes to pricing a home,” says Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. "A sellers decision where to set their asking price should be determined by what else is on the market and how quickly they would like a sale. If a home is sitting on the market for an extended period of time it is generally considered to be priced above market."

Norm's note: Supply and demand is best understood looking at a market's "absorption rate" or months of inventory. Months of inventory is calculated by dividing the total number of active listings by the number of sales in the past month. Coming into the new year a six month supply of homes existed in Saskatoon. By the end of January available inventory had shrunk to a 5.2 month supply. By the end of February it was down to a 4.1 month supply. So, while inventory has increased in actual numbers, and there is no denying that it's high compared to recent years, it has been falling quite sharply over the past sixty days. Most real estate analysts would suggest that a four month supply tip the scale slightly in favour of sellers. Of course, the type of market (buyer's vs. seller's) can vary from one area to the next, and from one price range to the next.

The current inventory level represents 4.1 months of inventory in Saskatoon which is eight percent higher than the average of 3.8 months over the past four years. According to Yochim, "The months of inventory is simply how long it would take the current inventory of available homes to be absorbed by the market.”

According to the Saskatoon MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), the benchmark value for single family homes in Saskatoon increased by 3.82 percent year-over-year to $325,700. The largest year-over-year increase was west of Circle Drive where the benchmark value increased by 6.16 percent to $276,500. The benchmark value for homes on the furthest east side of Saskatoon (east of Circle Drive) increased by 2.03 percent year-over-year to a value of $407,400.

"Irrespective of the stats, every home is unique in its own way and every seller's situation is unique. Trends in the market will affect sellers directly. To find out how, it is highly recommended to contact one of the more than 600 professionally licensed and trained REALTOR® members of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are dedicated to developing professional standards and continuing education in the real estate profession.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for January of 2014recently accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the association’s full trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past several years.

Unit sales appear to be strong so far in 2014. January recorded 331 sales compared to 297 for the same period in 2013, an increase of 11 percent. The number of units listed also increased by 13 percent with 958 new listings bringing the total inventory in the Saskatoon market to 1,324. In January of 2013 there were only 1,061 properties on the market. Many homes priced between $500,000 and $750,000 saw reduced asking prices late last year. Buyers appear to have responded accordingly with sales in this range increasing by 84 percent with 35 units sold year-to-date.

Two other factors of interest are the sales-to-listing ratio and the months of inventory. These two indicators will vary greatly depending on price range. The sales-to-listing ratio compares the number of newly listed homes to the number of sales for a given period. With homes priced between $350,000 and $650,000 the sales to listing ratio averages 28 percent. However, with homes priced over $650,000 this ratio drops to just 14 percent. At the lower price range (below $350,000) one out of every two homes is selling.

The number of months of inventory is simply determined by dividing the number of sales for a period by the number of properties available on the market. When looking at inventory priced below $350,000 there is three month supply of homes. With homes priced between $350,000 and $550,000 there is more than six months of inventory while homes priced between $650,000 and $750,000 face a 20 month supply. Overall the number of months of inventory in Saskatoon hovers just below six months. According to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®, "The more months of inventory, the longer a seller can expect to wait for a sale. This just means that there are a smaller number of sales relative to what is available for sellers to select from.”

The Saskatoon MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) reflects market trends for five specific property types as well as a composite of the Saskatoon market. The HPI works similar to the Consumer Price Index using a benchmark price and start date of January 2005. The composite benchmark price for Saskatoon had reached its peak in May of 2008 at a value of $308,900. By January of 2009, with the market adjustment, it had dropped to a low of $258,700. The market then began a slow climb until October of last year reaching a new high of $312,600, however, by years end the composite benchmark price declined to $306,600. "Since October of 2013 the Saskatoon MLS® Home Price Index had been trending slightly downward, indicating a shift to more of a buyers' market especially in the higher price ranges." states Yochim. "The recent burst of activity in January should arrest that decline."

"Irrespective of the stats, every home is unique in its own way and every seller's situation is unique. Trends in the market will affect sellers directly. To find out how, it is highly recommended to contact one of the more than 600 professionally licensed and trained REALTOR® members of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are dedicated to developing professional standards and continuing education in the real estate profession.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.

Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for October of 2013today accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month to month basis over the past several years.

Activity in the Saskatoon marketplace seems to vary depending on what area and price range a buyer is considering. Homes in the entry level range between $300,000 and $450,000 experience the greatest demand, yet there are fewer listings to choose from compared to higher price ranges. Case in point, in Area 5, on the west side of Saskatoon, there are approximately 100 homes for sale in this price range. More than half of these homes are located in Hampton Village while the balance are in the older, more mature neighborhoods of Area 5. Needless to say, the average number of days to sell in Area 5 is the lowest in Saskatoon at 29 days.

The selection of homes for sale increases significantly when shopping in ranges above $450,000. In the newer areas of the east side there are just over 160 homes available that are priced between $450,000 and $600,000. Slightly more than half of these homes are in Rosewood and Evergreen. The average days-to-sell in this area is 43 which is the longest time frame in Saskatoon. "It is more of a buyers' market when looking over $500,000 if the existing and new home inventory is taken into account,” according to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. Home owners and developers have to make corrective price reductions to respond to this market condition to move their homes. "Our association is seeing more listed properties being cancelled and re-listed at lower prices in order to attract new interest from buyers," adds Yochim.

Canada Mortgage and Housing forecasts are conservative for single detached new housing starts. In Saskatoon, last year, there were 2,025 new single family housing starts. Starts in the same housing category are expected to decrease to around 1,600 for the current year. The forecast for 2014 should mirror that of 2013 with 1,650 starts projected.

The average selling price in of a home in Saskatoon continues to hover around $345,000. With a bit of cooling in the higher price ranges it will likely remain stable into next year.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for September of 2013today accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past several years.

The number of homes for sale took a significant jump in September with an increase of 27 percent over 2012. "Over the past month, the Saskatoon market place saw 740 properties added to the inventory for a total of 1,391 homes available to buyers," reports Jason Yochim of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. "On average, we have seen an increase in our inventory of approximately seven to eight percent over last year.

Even though our sales activity is on par with last year's numbers, and with an increase in listings this year, there is still a steady increase in the average sale price of approximately four percent, year to date," said Yochim. The market surrounding Saskatoon has also experienced an increase in the number of homes listed with a year to date increase of ten percent.

The average price of a home in Saskatoon currently sits at just under $345,000. "Occasionally there is concern in the media regarding affordability of homes in the Saskatoon market. In my opinion, the market is finding ways to meet the demands for buyers looking below the average price," says Yochim. Sales between $225,000 and $250,000 increased by four percent. To date, the number of sales between $750,000 and $1-million has eclipsed 2012's year end total at 50 with the number of sales in excess of $1-million matching last year's high of 16 sales. "We are fortunate as our average wage is approaching that of our neighbours to the west, however, our average sale price is $100,000 less making Saskatoon quite affordable when it comes to home ownership."

On average it takes about 39 days for a home to sell in Saskatoon and around 60 days in the area surrounding Saskatoon. The market is still in balanced territory with a sales-to-listing ratio of 53 percent. This means that slightly more than half of the homes listed for sale are selling.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for August of 2013today accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month to month basis over the past several years.

For the second year in a row the gross dollar volume for home sales exceeded $1 billion by the end of summer. At this rate the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® is on track to break the $2 billion mark by year end. The number of units sold year-to-date was down by 2 precent in 2013 however an increase in the average selling price of 4 percent boosted the yearly volume by $25 million over the same period last year. "Listing activity is up 8 percent over last year thanks in part to 1,125 new properties added to the market last month versus 936 in August of 2012," according to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. "There are currently 3,118 properties for sale in the Saskatoon region and 1,373 within Saskatoon."

The average sale price in Saskatoon was up 4 percent from last year at this time to just under $345,000. "We are actually in balanced territory with 54 percent of listed properties selling. With the number of new listings up almost 10 percent over last year and the number of sales unchanged, we can expect this balanced market to continue for the foreseeable future," comments Yochim. "A steady supply of new listings will help to ensure that our demand does not put a sharp upward pressure on pricing.”

Home sales between $300,000 and $500,000 continue to increase at the greatest rate, accounting for approximately one half of all sales. Sales between $450,000 and $500,000 increased 30 percent over the first two-thirds of the year.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in farmland in Saskatchewan which has driven prices to unprecedented levels, however, activity is down this year with farmland transactions at 55 percent of what they were a year ago. "The dollar volume for farmland so far this year is at $14.5 million compared to 24 million in 2012. It’s hard to say what caused the sharp decrease, however, it could be due to prices reaching levels that no longer make sense to the investor," states Yochim.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for July of 2013today accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month to month basis over the past several years.

Sales activity in Area One, which is the residential development east of Circle Drive, is the only area showing a positive increase in the number of unit sales at 3% year-to-date. All other areas of the city had slight decreases with the exception of the north end which showed a more substantial decrease of 12% or 271 unit sales compared to 309 at the end of July 2012. "There is more selection in Area One with many existing and new neighborhoods to choose to live," according to Jason Yochim, Executive Officer with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®.

Active listings are up 8% from last year with 1,338 homes available in the Saskatoon market place. Sales were also up 8% in July with 620 transactions taking place and an average time on the market of 35 days which is a drastic change from the average of 63 days last July. "Despite some speculation that the Saskatoon economy is slowing, the real estate market proved otherwise with a very active July," explains Yochim. "Typically we see a decrease in activity during the month of July being that many residents are away. Most of the sales occurred in the price range between $350,000 and $400,000 with 490 transactions in the first seven months of the year."

The average sale price in Saskatoon inched up slightly by 3% to just under $342,000. The market remains balanced with a total of 4,846 homes listed in Saskatoon year-to-date with 2,623 of these selling for a sales to listing ratio (percentage of listings that result in a sale) of 54%.

The areas surrounding Saskatoon, including several growing "bedroom" communities continue to show strong activity with an increase in the number of sales by 7% over the same period last year. The average selling price in the surrounding areas is just over $300,000 which is a 5% increase from last year. "As communities like Warman and Martensville continue to add neighborhoods and amenities, their pace of growth will continue to be strong," adds Yochim. "The down side to this growth however is an increased demand on infrastructure and services."

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today showed year-over-year price increases in detached bungalows and standard two-storey homes in Saskatoon, while standard condominium prices remained flat.

Prices for detached bungalows saw a healthy increase of 5.2 per cent to $369,250, while prices for standard two-storey homes increased by 3.9 per cent to $394,250.  Condominium prices, in contrast, dropped by 0.3 per cent to $255,000.

“Our strong local economy and low unemployment rate are driving population growth, which is in turn leading to decreased housing availability,” said Norm Fisher, broker of Royal LePage Saskatoon. “The decreased number of available properties has spurred a number of multiple-offer scenarios, with as much as 30 per cent of listed properties selling at or above asking price.”

Royal LePage is forecasting moderate price increases for the remainder of the year.  “The buoyant job market in Saskatoon will keep prices and unit sales strong for the balance of 2013,” said Fisher.  “Expectations of interest rate increases may also contribute to higher activity, as buyers try to get into the market in advance of rate hikes.”

Nationally, in the second quarter, standard two-storey homes and detached bungalows both showed a year-over-year average price increase of 2.7 per cent to $419,614 and $386,547, respectively. Average prices for standard condominiums showed a more modest increase during the same period, rising 1.2 per cent to $248,750. Royal LePage forecasts that house prices will see modest gains throughout the remainder of 2013, projecting a 3.0 per cent increase for the full year when compared to 2012.

Dialogue concerning the direction of Canada’s housing market has remained front and centre in recent months. Changes to Canada’s mortgage lending rules in mid-2012 coupled with concerns about consumer debt levels, housing affordability in cities like Toronto and Vancouver and continued international economic uncertainty have prompted a number of analysts to forecast large downward price adjustments.

“As we have stated consistently since the current market downturn began late in the second quarter of 2012, this is a normal cyclical correction which brings fewer home sales and softer prices. Those hoping their predictions of a bursting bubble and cataclysmic drops in home values will come true are out of luck again,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage. “Price appreciation in most markets across the country has been well below the long-term average for Canada and will remain so through to the end of the year. We expect to see the number of homes trading hands to begin to rise slightly on a year-over-year basis in the second half of 2013, with price softness continuing until mid-2014, at which point we’ll see an emergence from the current cycle.”

Read also: Global News - Saskatoon housing prices among the highest in Canada

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for May of 2013today accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month to month basis over the past several years.

Buyers were harder to find in May which was reflected in a five percent decrease year-to-date in unit sales compared to last year.(Norm’s notes: Looking specifically at May of 2013, units sales declined by 11 from April and were down seven percent (31 properties) from May of last year when 459 Saskatoon homes traded. Still, sales continued at strong levels exceeding the five year average for the month of May, 409)

Listing activity continued to be strong however with a total of 5,111 properties listed so far in 2013. This represents a three percent increase over the same period last year. "Although listing activity is up slightly over last year, 1,314 active listings in Saskatoon represents only two properties per REALTOR®." says Jason Yochim, Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® "An increase in inventory of homes would provide the buyers with more to choose from and help to increase the sales activity."(Norm’s note: The number of listings per buyer is far more relevant than the number of listings per agent. Note that “months of inventory,” the total amount of time it would take to exhaust current inventory based on recent sales if no new listings were to come on the market, increased .4 months to 3.1 months. Most analysts would still classify that as “seller’s market” conditions, perhaps just moving into balanced territory.)

The average price of a home in Saskatoon continued to inch up at the rate of five percent year-to-date. For the first time this year, the sale of homes priced between $400,000 and $450,000 eased off, however homes prices above $450,000 continued to sell well. According to Yochim, "There is a 56 percent increase in the sale of homes between $750,000 and a million year to date with 28 homes selling in this range since January." (Norm’s notes: The average price of a Saskatoon home rose six percent from last May to reach $355,405. The median price of a Saskatoon home, the point at which half of all sales occur above and the other half below, grew by eight percent to $340,000. The home price index numbers due towards the middle of the month will provide a clearer, apples to apples comparison of how prices are really trending but these advances appear to be real.)

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for April of 2013today accompanied by the following release.

Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month to month basis over the past several years.

Increased activity in the real estate market in Saskatoon in the month of April made up for some of the lost ground in the first quarter of the year. Listing activity was up a modest three percent while sales activity was up eight percent when compared to April 2012. "Activity dropped off in the first quarter of 2013 for the first time in many months," says Jason Yochim, Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. "I was confident that we would see an increase based on the steady economic activity our city and province are experiencing. Saskatchewan is fortunate to not be in a 'boom' but rather steady economic growth which doesn't have that nasty downside that follows a drastic increase in market activity."

The year-to-date increase in the average sale price of a home is steady at four percent ($340,500) which has been the norm for the past number of years. The market remains comfortably in balanced territory with almost three months of inventory in Saskatoon. At the end of April there were 1,182 active listings on the market and a total of 439 sales for the month compared to 406 in April of 2012. The rural market surrounding Saskatoon is quite different with 917 active listings and only 117 unit sales in April equating to almost eight months of inventory. "In spite of the over-supply, the average price in the rural market still increased by nine percent to $327,000," according to Yochim.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Home sales between $300,000 and $400,000 saw a nine percent reduction or 16 fewer units change hands in April of 2013 compared to the same month last year. On a year-over-year basis, the upper range of homes continued to sell well compared to this time last year with a 35 percent increase in sales over $500,000 representing 255 units compared with 189 a year ago. The Saskatoon market has seen a total of six homes sell in excess of one million in 2013.

I’m always happy to answer your Saskatoon real estate questions. All of my contact info is here. Please feel free to call of email me.

Get the most current market intelligence with our FREE Market Snapshot including prices of homes recently sold in your area. Get it here, now.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate