Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (March 10-14 2008)

It was another big week for new Saskatoon real estate listings with 156 residential properties being offered up for sale, the highest number for any week this year. Total active listings settled at 411 units including 251 houses (up from 201 last week) and 116 condos (down from 124 last week). An additional 68 properties are displaying a “pending sale” flag. Taking a quick look back to the same week last year, we can see that there is approximately twice the number of Saskatoon homes available today. New listings have managed to outpace sales for 10 of the last 11 weeks, a positive sign for buyers looking for a bit of balance, if that trend continues.

So far, there is little sign that a growing base of active listings is playing in the buyer’s favour. 97 properties changes hands, delivering one of the largest sales weeks this year, topped only once, the week of February 18-22. Unit sales this week increased about 25% from last week and about 12% from the same week last year.

The number of Saskatoon homes, which sold above the asking price, exceeded the number sold below for the first time this year, accounting for 41% of all homes sold. The average overbid managed to increase slightly from last week to $16,029. Where buyers were able to grind a bit of a deal, the average underbid also increased slightly, pushing the $9,000 mark.

Average selling prices managed to eclipse average asking prices for the third consecutive week, but a number of inexpensive homes sold in area 4 and an active week in condo sales resulted in a lower average selling price than we’ve seen since the week of February 11-15.

Notable sales

• Forest Grove condo at 630 square feet sells 13K over at $183,000.
• Dated Haultain area bungalow at 924 square feet, with no garage fetches $321,000.
• Lawson Heights bungalow at 949 square feet with a single garage goes for $343,000.
• Fairhaven coach home at 1,140 square feet brings $225,000.

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