Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (March 2-6 2009)

Unit sales of Saskatoon houses and condos fell just short of the fifty mark for the third week in a row, finishing at forty-nine properties. That activity represents a gain of just two units compared to the previous week, and a drop from seventy-eight units when compared to the same week last year. An additional five semi-detached homes brought total residential sales reported to the local MLS to fifty-four.

New listings grew to their second highest weekly level this year as Saskatoon real estate agents brought 135 condominiums and houses to the market, down twenty units from 155 for the same week last year. This was just the second week this year that new listing activity was down on a year-over-year basis. Total active residential listings were up marginally over last week but managed to break the thirteen hundred mark for the first time this year finishing at 1,313 by the close of business Friday. There are 808 single-family homes and 419 condominiums currently offered for sale within the city of Saskatoon.

A lower ratio of sales in higher-priced area 1, combined with an unusually high number of smaller house sales pushed prices down sharply for the week. The average sale price slid from $269,628 last week to just $232,035. The six-week average lost a little over $5,000 compared to the previous week and finished at $276,503, up just under $14,000 from the same week last year, while the four-week median increased to $268,037 from $263,750 last week, remaining up $27,000 from the same week last year when it reached $241,000.

Saskatoon homes sellers submitted sixty-four prices changes over the course of the week. An additional twenty-four listings were cancelled and re-listed, most at a new price.

The average underbid for the week crept back up above the ten thousand dollar mark again to finish at $10,577. Of course the lower average sale prices meant that buyers did manage a larger discount as a percentage of the asking price. On average, Saskatoon home buyers negotiated an offer at 4.1% off of the list price, up from 3.4% last week.

The percentage of sales completed within $5,000 of the asking price dipped sharply from 40% last week to 18%, while the $5,001-$10,000 category gained ground from 34% last week to finish at 45%. The $10,001-$15,000 category grew from 11% to 21%, and the $15,001-$20,000 range doubled from 6% last week to 12%. The larger discounts did weaken some as the $20,001-$25,000 range dropped by more than half from 9% to just 4% of sales. For the second week in a row, no Saskatoon home sellers gave up more than $25,000 as a discount.

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