Saskatoon real estate week in review: November 3-9, 2013

Following what could only be described as a stellar sales week for this time of year, Saskatoon real estate agents processed fewer home sales and more listings this week. The total number of single-family homes and condominiums that saw a firm sale slid to just 66, down 30 from last week to finish three lower than sales reported for the same week last year.

Meanwhile, after four consecutive weeks of declines, new residential listingsmoved in the opposite direction as local REALTORS® brought 121 new listings of houses and condos to the Saskatoon MLS® system, up 15 from last week and well ahead of the 99 homes that came to market for the same period last year.

After showing some promise of long awaited declines, the inventory of active MLS® listings in the residential category levelled off, slipping just two units from the close of the previous week to finish at 1282 for a year-over-year increase of more than 200 homes. At this time a year ago inventory stood at 1075. Both condos and houses are showing large gains over last year with the former climbing from 346 to 396 (15 percent) and the latter growing in numbers from just 642 a year ago to 792 today (23 percent). Much of the increased supply is in new homes but as sales decrease through the colder months supply looks like it will remain strong, likely taking some pressure off of prices.

Still, prices remain remarkably strong this week. The median sale price of a Saskatoon home saw the greatest change slipping four thousand dollars from last week to $332,500 while the average price for the week grew by two thousand to $351,874. The longer term measures showed little change on the week. The six-week average price of a Saskatoon home inched up just a few hundred dollars from last week to finish at $353,854 for an annual increase of about 13.5K. The four-week median slipped lower by roughly twenty-six hundred dollars finishing the week at $347,250 for an annual increase of more than twenty-seven thousand dollars.

The number of sales that closed above the seller’s asking price dropped to just one. That home saw an overbid of just $1,100. Another ten deals hit the books at the seller’s full asking price while 55 of this week’s 66 firm deals finished up below list price with an average discount of $9,349.

Other notable MLS® activity this week included 51 cancelled and withdrawn listings, 15 expired listings and 49 price adjustments.

Highlights from the news this past week

Houses and hell: Why Canada isn’t on the fiery route

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Norm Fisher

Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate