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Saskatoon real estate week in review–November 16-20 2009

Saskatoon real estate week in review–November 16-20 2009
Sales of Saskatoon homes picked up the pace this week with a total of sixty-one condos and single-family detached houses being reported sold to the local MLS system, an increase of nine properties from last week, and a gain of six units over the same week last year.


New listings also came on a bit stronger as Saskatoon real estate agents brought sixty-nine properties to the market, up from fifty-nine last week, but fewer than were offered up during the same week last year when seventy-eight new listings entered the multiple listing service database.


It’s definitely feeling like a fall real estate market but relatively speaking, November appears to be shaping up to be another strong month for residential real estate sales in Saskatoon. As of this morning, one hundred and ninety firm sales have been reported for November, already ahead of last November, which finished with just one hundred and eighty-one sales, and within easy striking distance of the five-year average of two hundred and twenty-nine properties.



You’ll notice on the sales and listings chart above that new listings have consistently been below last year’s level since the end of February, while units sold are above last year’s levels pretty consistently since the middle of May. Naturally, these trends have been pushing residential inventory lower since the end of May. This week was no exception, though the drop was very modest. Active listings fell by just four properties from last week to eight hundred and eighty-two, down from fifteen hundred and thirty-seven at the same time last year. Currently, single-family home inventory sits at just five hundred and sixteen, five fewer then were available last week but well off of last year’s number of nine hundred and thirty-two. At this time there are three hundred and seven condominiums for sale in Saskatoon, about the same number as last week, and below last year’s level by more than two hundred units.



Cancelled and withdrawn listing increased over last week to forty-eight homes with eighteen of those returning to the system as a “new listing,” most at a new lower price. Additionally, thirty-three price changes were recorded through the course of the week.


In spite of two single-family home sales that together accounted for $1.3 million in sales volume, an abundance of lower priced sales including condominiums and a large share of area 4 homes caused the average selling price of a Saskatoon home slid sharply this week to just $255,460, down over fifty thousand dollars from last week when it approached the weekly peak for 2009 reaching nearly three hundred and ten thousand. The six-week average fell six thousand dollars from last week, and from the same week in 2008 to $277,734. The four-week median came down two thousand dollars week-over-week to $275,081 remaining up over the same week last year by roughly five thousand dollars.


Month to date, the average residential sale price for the Saskatoon area sits at $280,106, about the level it has been at most of the year, and just slightly ahead of last November when it sat at $278,495. If the average sale price manages to maintain this level through November this will be the second month this year where we see a slight gain over the previous year.


Click the image for a larger version of the graph.


As is often the case when lower priced units trade at these levels, the average underbid slid out of the five-figure range to $9,113, nearly two thousand dollars lower than last week. As a percentage of the selling price, the average discount on those homes that sold for less than the asking price was 3.4%, the same as it was the week before. The percentage of homes that sold within five thousand dollars of the list price jumped to account for nearly half of all sales.



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.


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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Vidorra

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