Saskatoon real estate agents had some time to enjoy the holidays this week as the local housing market was less than demanding. Home sales fell to their lowest level when compared against any other week this year as just 28 properties traded hands, down from a strong 67 the week before and just below numbers generated during Christmas week last year when 30 sales were reported.
The number of new listings added to the multiple listing service® plummeted, also reaching an annual low. The week saw just 32 listings hit the system, down from 80 the week before, and at levels roughly half of new listings for the same week last year. This week’s listings stand well apart from all others this year. The previous low week saw 70 units houses and condos added to the MLS® system. On the heels of a four-week free fall, the MLS® inventory of active listings declined just modestly this week, slipping by 15 properties to 1284, leaving us up on a year-over-year basis by about 159 homes. This next week will, of course, be a huge one for expired listings with 132 properties set to come off of the system, if not renewed or extended in the next three days. Still, we appear ready to start the year with total active listings in the mid 1,100 range, for an annual increase of roughly 10-12 percent, I’d guess. A closer look by housing type shows 759 Saskatoon houses being available to buyers today, up from 681 a year ago.
There are currently 382 condominiums for sale in Saskatoon, up from 344 at this time last year. Following one of the largest drops to the weekly average price that we’ve seen all year, that measure dropped even further this week, slipping to $317,461. Meanwhile, the median sale price of a Saskatoon home recovered from just $279,000 last week and reached $308,050. It seems that luxury home buyers have better things to do than to buy homes the week before Christmas. This week’s mix of sales had just one showing a price of greater than $500,000 affecting the weekly number significantly. A quick look at the price chart will confirm that this is typical of the season and likely to be repeated next week. Still, even the longer term price measures were not left unaffected. The six-week average price of a Saskatoon home fell a bit more than eight thousand dollars from last week to settle at $349,889 for an annual increase of about 13K. The four-week median price slipped eight thousand as well to close the week at $331,000 for an annual increase of just one thousand dollars. In spite of soft sales, two Saskatoon home sellers managed to find a buyer who was willing to pay more than their asking price, but the overbids were fairly conservative averaging just $2,733. Another seven buyers showed some Christmas spirit and made a full price offer while 19 of 28 weekly sales closed at less than the asking price with an average discount of $10,384. Other notable real estate activity this past week included six canceled and withdrawn listings (four and two respectively), 34 expired listings and just six price changes.
As we close this year, I’d like to say thanks again for reading and following our blog.
We’ll remain committed to our market updates through 2015 and we hope that we can count on you to continue to visit for updates. Happy New Year! 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