Saskatoon real estate week in review: April 15-21, 2012

For the past nine weeks Saskatoon real estate sales have been up one week and down the next. For the first time since the middle of February we’re seeing two consecutive weeks of sales growth with this week’s house and condo sale numbers at 98 units.  That represents a gain of just seven units compared to the previous week and annual growth of 15 homes when compared to MLS sales for the same week last year.

New listingstook a substantial jump as Saskatoon real estate agents brought 178 homes to the market, up by 40 from the previous week and well above what we saw during the same period of 2011 when just 108 houses and condos hit the market.

At the same time, total active MLS listings in the residential category failed to gain any traction moving higher by just one unit compared to the close of last week. They finished the week at 1108, down from 1298 at the end of the same week a year ago. Today, Saskatoon home buyers have a selection of 646 single-family homes and 392 condominiums to choose from. Last year at this time, those numbers sat at 758 and 469 respectively.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home slipped about six thousand dollars this week but still managed to stand pretty tall at $345,518. One sale at $1.25 million dollars skews that number about 12K higher than it would have been without it. There was more activity in lower end homes as the weekly median sale price slipped more than twenty thousand dollars to $322,000. The six-week average price pushed higher by seventy-five hundred dollars compared to last week and finished at $337,784 up a full thirty-three thousand dollars from the same week a year ago. The four-week median moved sharply higher gaining $17,500 on the week to finish at $337,450 claiming an annual gain of more than twenty-eight thousand dollars.

Once again, just six lucky sellers managed to complete a sale above their asking price and those overbids were fairly conservative, averaging just $1567. Another 16 Saskatoon home sellers found a buyer willing to pay the full asking price while 76 of this week’s 98 sales saw a seller giving up about $11,601 on average to put up a sold sign.

Other notable activity this week included 48 cancelled or withdrawn listings, 30 expired listings and 48 price changes.

Highlights from the news this past week

Canadian real estate market a tale of two cities – Globe and Mail 16
Saskatoon to continue growing on east and west side – NewsTalk 650 16
Mortgage market tiptoes toward subprime – CBC News 16
Saskatoon home sales above national average: CREA - Star Phoenix 16
House prices in Canada declined in March – CBC News 16
Canadian home sales rise 2.5% in March, prices edge lower – Financial Post 16
A reality test for would-be home buyers – Globe and Mail 16
CREA says sales up 8% from 2011 – Star Phoenix 16
Household debt is ‘biggest domestic risk:’ Bank of Canada – Globe and Mail 17
Big debt the downside of loading up on real estate – Financial Post 17
Bank of Canada warns on home equity lines of credit – Globe and Mail 18
Mortgage wars backfire – Financial Post 18
Buy Herself matches self-sufficient women with the perfect home – National Post 18
How much over asking would you bid on a house? – Globe and Mail 19
Most Canadians would balk at a bidding war – Financial Post 19
Finding the right home, with or without Mr. Right – Globe and Mail 19
Are home prices headed for ‘correction’ when rates rise? – Globe and Mail 20
Canada’s big banks flee nonprime market amid signs of downturn– Financial Post 20

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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 Saskatoon Real Estate