Saskatoon real estate week in review: March 15-19 2010

Perhaps it’s the threat of higher interest rates just around the corner; maybe it’s marginal qualifiers eager to beat the mortgage rule changes coming soon. Regardless of the reason, Saskatoon real estate sales continued to gain some traction this week as local agents reported eighty single-family home and condo sales to the MLS, up from sixty-six last week, and fifty-eight for the same week in 2009.

New listingsalso came on strong as 135 Saskatoon home sellers brought their property to the market, the second highest number for any week this year. That total represents an increase of twenty-two properties compared to last week and a gain of two when measured against the same week last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Total active MLS listings (residential) continued to grow, stopping just short of breaking the one thousand mark at 976 units including 555 single-family homes and 367 condominiums. The inventory grew by forty-five properties over the course of the week but still sits roughly thirty percent lower than it was at this time last year when 1,394 residential properties showed an active status on the Saskatoon MLS system.

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Cancelled and withdrawn listings came in at twenty-four with thirteen of those homes immediately relisted, most at a lower price. Additionally, fifty-one home sellers adjusted the asking price of their home in hopes of attracting a buyer.

Selling prices continued to swing rather wildly as entry-level condos came on strong. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home this week was $274,625, down nearly $22K from last week when it hit $296,339. The six-week average managed to slip about sixteen hundred dollars on a week-over-week basis to $287,680 but showed a gain of roughly $21,500 when compared to the same week in 2009. The four-week median moved higher by $3,600 over the course of the week to close at $278,603, up $25,000 from the same period last year when it dropped to its annual low of $253,500.

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Overbidding activity was consistent with last week with nine of eighty sales going for more than the asking price by an average of $4,250. Six sellers hit their goal number. Sixty-five of the reported sales showed a sale price below list by an average of roughly 2.6% or $7,089.

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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra