While unit sales pushed higher, new listings moved in the opposite direction for the second consecutive week. Agents brought seventy-seven single-family homes and thirty-three condominium listings to the Saskatoon Multiple Listing Service® this week for a total of 110 new listings, down five properties from last week, but up eight from the same period last year. Still, this was one of the three slowest weeks for new listings since late March when the spring rush really began.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The active inventory of Saskatoon real estate listings continued to show some stubbornness maintaining a near straight line since delivering its first significant drop for the year at the close of June. This morning, there are 1368 active listings in the residential category of the Saskatoon MLS®, a drop of just six compared to last week and higher than it was at this time in 2009 when buyers had 1290 properties to choose from. This morning, buyers will find a selection of 808 single-family homes and 479 condominiums for sale. The balance of the inventory is made up of semi-detached homes, duplexes, mobile homes and vacant land. Most of the year-over-year active inventory gains can be counted in the condo category, which has risen from 406 at this time last year. At the same point in 2009 there were roughly 790 single-family homes available on the Saskatoon MLS®.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings fell to just twenty-nine with sixteen of those immediately returning to the system bearing a new MLS® number. Additionally, forty-eight Saskatoon home sellers made an adjustment to their pricing strategy hoping to meet a buyer before the summer months are behind us.

Home prices continued in that up and down pattern that we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks. This week, down took its turn as the average price paid for a Saskatoon home tumbled twenty-five thousand dollars compared to last week to settle at $279,306. The six-week average took another solid step down dropping more than five thousand dollars from last week to settle at $290,315 and reaching its lowest point since the week of April 5-9, just seven thousand dollars higher than it was for the same week in 2009. The four-week median price of a Saskatoon home followed the other two measures and finished lower on a week-over-week basis by five thousand dollars as it slipped to $275,000. The four-week median price remains up by five thousand dollars on a year-over-year basis but is down by fourteen thousand dollars from its peak weeks in May and June.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Overbidding continued to be a rarity with just two Saskatoon home sellers reporting a sale price that was greater than the list price by an average of $2,724. Seven sellers managed to get every penny they asked. Seventy-nine of eighty-eight sales required an earnest negotiation with the buyer bagging an average discount of $9,287, or roughly 3.3 percent of the asking price.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Weather to have ‘significant impact’ on Saskatchewan’s economic growth in 2010
Office vacancy rate falls (local)
Bank of Canada ratchets down growth forecast
Inflation rate slows in June
Bank of Canada raises interest rates
EI numbers rise in Saskatoon and Regina (local)
Out of town: Nine country knockouts

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings also slid lower as Saskatoon home sellers offered up seventy-four single-family homes and forty-one condominiums for a total of 115 listings, a drop of nine from the previous week and a gain of just one when compared with the same week in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

A few weeks ago, the total number of residential listings available on the Saskatoon MLS® reached its highest point for the year at 1427 units. Coincidentally, that number pretty much matched the levels we saw in both 2008 and 2009 for very same week. Of course, in 2008 and 2009 inventory levels headed in different directions after that week and the obvious question that came forward was, “Which of the two paths will this year’s inventory follow?” Just a few weeks later, the answer seems to be “neither.” We did see a bit of a drop as listings that expired at the end of June came off of the system, but since then the total number of Saskatoon homes for sale has remained steady. This week, total inventory finished at 1374 units, up just one from last week and higher than it was at this time last year by sixty-four units, or roughly five percent. As of this morning there are 810 single-family homes and 484 condominiums showing an active status on the Saskatoon MLS® system.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings came in at forty-three with just twenty of those actually staying off the market. Twenty-three returned on the same day they were cancelled disguised as a new listing. Sixty-five home sellers adjusted their asking price this week.

Encouraged by two high-end sales that averaged $870,000 each, the average selling price of a Saskatoon home moved higher for the second week in a row and reached $304,676. The six-week average still managed a week-over-week decline of almost four thousand dollars and slipped to $295,514 to finish about fourteen thousand dollars higher than it was for the same week last year. Following four weeks of declines the four-week median sale price took a fifty six hundred dollar gain when compared with the previous week. It closed the week at $279,900, up just nine hundred dollars on a year-over-year basis.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Once again, the majority of reported sales came in at a price that was lower than asking. Sixty-eight of seventy-four successful home sellers gave up an average of $10,221 or 3.3 percent of the asking price. Two sellers hit their number and four managed a deal above the asking price with an average overbid of $5,113.

The changes that we’re seeing in the market really don’t come as much of a surprise to me given that nearly everyone who normally has a voice in the Canadian housing market has warned of a slow down in the second half of the year. It started in May with very marginal declines. The drop in unit sales accelerated in June and we finished the month seventeen percent lower than the previous year. July is definitely feeling even slower. After the close of business on July 15 just 154 sales had been reported so far for the month putting us on pace for total monthly sales of 308 units, assuming the pace continues at its current level. That would amount to a thirty-percent decline over the previous year and sales that are twenty-one percent below the five-year average for July. Add five percent to the inventory of active listings and it a very different market. Here’s hoping that it doesn’t get much worse than that. ☺

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Housing starts rebuild momentum (local)
Home sales continue to drop
U.S. banks repossess homes at record pace
Canadian real estate – A soft landing or something worse?
Competition watchdog, realtors face off in court this April
Home sales down in June (local)
What’s next for the Canadian housing market?
Rise in housing starts forecast for Saskatoon (local)

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Housing starts are rocking the charts once again and you can’t go anywhere in this town without running into some massive non-residential construction project. They’re everywhere.

According to the City of Saskatoon’s most recent population estimate, roughly 223,200 people were calling Saskatoon home as of June 30, an increase of approximately 5,000 from a year ago. That “estimate” is pretty consistent with Statistics Canada’s most recent numbers for Saskatchewan that indicate our provincial population grew by more than 16,000 in the past year to reach its highest point ever.

One can only assume that our ability to continue expanding employment is a driving force in that growth.

New entrants need not fear a sudden adjustment on the lifestyle scale. We know how to have a good time. We know how to blow the dough. A new study (via JenCT), published in the Sask Trends Monitor for June says household spending between 2006 and 2008 grew at three times the national average in Saskatchewan. We found a way to increase spending by an average of 7.3 percent during each of those years as the value of our homes skyrocketed. Credit was cheap and easy to come by. It still is, really.

Now before you start wagging your finger and talking your neighbours down for their financial recklessness, you should know that another new study (via Larry) says that the household net worth of those living in Saskatoon saw a huge increase over the past year, that our household debt is well below the national average and that we’re looking pretty good when it comes to our investment portfolios.

On the surface, this appears to be one recession the people of Saskatchewan won’t soon forget.

Generally speaking, would you say your family is better off or worse off than it was five years ago? I would love to hear your thoughts.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings also came on strong with 126 home sellers offering a house or condo for sale on the Saskatoon MLS® system, a gain of forty units compared to last week and almost two dozen more than were listed during the same period in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

After tumbling fifty-five units as we entered the month of July to mark the first substantial weekly decline we had seen in 2010, the inventory of active residential MLS® listings snapped back to the near straight line that it had been following for the five weeks prior. Total inventory remained steady at 1373, a gain of just one on the previous week, but fifty units more than were available at the close of the same week one year ago. By this time last year active listings were in steady decline falling almost every week through the balance of the year. While inventory seems to be a bit more stubborn this year, active sellers may be somewhat encouraged that it’s lower now than it was six weeks ago, and that many of the listings that expired at the end of June may remain on the sidelines for now.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings bounced higher to reach fifty-one units but as usual, roughly half of those were immediately re-listed to add to the active listings numbers once more. Most of them came back at a lower asking price. An additional seventy-six MLS® listings recorded a price change over the course of the week.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home surged back this week, reaching $296,479 and continuing the erratic up and down bounce that has been going on for several weeks. The six-week average inched higher and continued near the peak range for the year growing by nearly three thousand dollars over the previous week. The new number of $298,616 represents a gain to the six-week average of nearly seventeen thousand dollars over the same week last year. The four-week median price showed its fourth consecutive slide producing modest week-over-week declines to finish just below $275,000 for the first time since early April. This week’s four-week median price of $274,350 fell short of the number generated during the same week in 2009 when it was $276,500 and marks the first year-over-year decline in the four-week median sale price since February opened.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The vast majority of the firm sales reported to the Saskatoon multiple listing service® this week showed a selling price below asking (83/90). The average underbid came in at $9,108, a three percent discount. Four sellers reported an above list sale price with the numbers being severally skewed by one new home sale including some extras and produced a sale price that exceeded asking by $60K. With that sale excluded, the average overbid was just $1,475. Three sellers got their full list price.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

First-time buyers want more for less
BMO lowers mortgage rates
Housing market stable (local)
House prices and sales to decline: Royal LePage
Remai buys choice 8th Street site (local)
Drop in home sales may be sign of peak
My mover sounded great on Craigslist
New-house prices rise in May
Entry-level houses prices rise, condos gain most (local)
Calgary tower now Canada’s second tallest building
Prices of new homes rose this spring (local)
House prices level
High marks for Canada’s real estate market

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Single-family detached home sales remained steady compared to the previous month with 232 reported sales, down sharply from June of last year when 298 houses changed hands. The average number of days to sell rose from 26 to 34 on a month-over-month basis, still well below the average selling time of 42 days during June of 2009.

The inventory of active house listings edged up slightly gaining fourteen units compared to the previous month to close June with 836 available properties, up from 818 at the end of the same month in 2009. The lower number of unit sales pushed the total months of available supply marginally higher to 3.7 months.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon house advanced by just a thousand dollars compared to the previous month but gained over $19,000 over the previous year to finish the month at $322,275. The median price paid for a single-family home actually fell $4,000 from May to $311,000 to record a gain of $16,000 compared to June of last year. The three-month average moved higher to $324,671 for a year-over-year gain of nearly $20,000. On a month-over-month basis, the average cost per square foot stayed fairly level but it increased about eight percent on a year-over-year basis from $249 to $270.

While house sales continued to cool for the second consecutive month Saskatoon condominium sales remained strong and stable. 120 units changed hands during the month, up from 117 in the month of May and just slightly lower than the 123 units that sold in June of 2009.

After showing a substantial increase during the month of May, condo inventory declined by 33 units to finish the month at 470 units, nearly 15% higher than it was in June of last year when 411 condos were available. Strong sales and modest inventory declines moved “months of inventory” in the opposite direction of single-family homes. The total months of supply declined by 0.4 to finish at 3.9.

Saskatoon condo prices took another step higher for the third consecutive month reaching $251,376, the highest average selling price since it last peaked in April of 2008. The median price followed climbing roughly $23,000 from June of last year to reach $238,750 while the three-month average grew $27,000 to close the month at $242,102.

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Royal LePage’s House Price Survey for the second quarter of 2010 was released this morning. Here is the release for the Saskatoon area.

SASKATOON, July 7 /CNW/ – The Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today showed solid price increases across most housing types surveyed in Saskatoon. Price gains were strongest for the city’s most affordable homes while above-average inventory levels for higher end homes is leading to a buyer’s market in this segment.

Standard condominiums led the way with year-over-year price gains of 6.3 per cent, selling for an average of $232,833 in the second quarter. Detached bungalows sold for an average of $331,250, up 6.1 per cent from last year. Standard two-storey homes were also up, gaining 5.4 per cent year-over-year, and selling for a second-quarter average of $355,000.

“Standard condominiums experienced the strongest price gains because of affordability,” said Norm Fisher, Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate. “First time buyers are trying to get into the market before interest rates go up.”

After peaking in April, sales volume for the second quarter is down approximately 6 per cent over last year with declines accelerating towards the end of the quarter. Bidding wars are rare, and are typically selling below asking price.

“Predictions of a softening market – in terms of the number of homes selling – are starting to come true,” says Fisher. “Sellers need to be aware of that, and price their homes properly.”

This mirrors Royal LePage’s national forecast, which predicts Canada’s residential real estate market will start to slow in the second half of 2010 after two quarters of strong price appreciation and sales activity. While market fundamentals remain strong across most major centres in Canada, sales activity was overly ‘front-loaded’ in the first half of the year and is expected to cool off for the third and fourth quarters. Prices are also expected to steady in the second half of the year.

“We have seen an unusual pattern of activity in the housing market over the past 12 months, with the market experiencing a surge of activity and price increases that peaked in the fall of 2009 rather than spring.  Early 2010 has followed a more typical seasonal pattern with prices and activity peaking in the second quarter,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “An expected increase in the supply of homes on the market will now bring stabilization in prices and in some cities we will see both prices and unit sales decline towards the end of the year. This should not be interpreted as a severe correction but rather a natural reaction to the market having peaked quite early this year.”

The surge of activity in the first and second quarters of 2010 corresponds to a number of significant regulatory and financial industry changes that affected homebuyers over the same period, including an increase in interest rates in the spring, tightening of mortgage lending rules for first-time homebuyers and investors, and the lead up to the introduction of the HST in British Columbia and Ontario.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

The second quarter of 2010 ended with 1,863 residential unit sales (year-to-date), on par with June of 2009. The unit sales number for the month of June declined by 17% with 364 properties being sold as compared to 441 properties last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average selling price in June was $295,963, up 7% from June 2009 when it was $276,194. This increase indicates strong activity in the mid to upper price range of homes. The $300,000 to 350,000 price range continues to experience the greatest sales activity.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

REALTORS® listed 676 homes in the month of June, a similar number to last year when 669 homes were placed on the market. Year to date listing numbers are on par with 3,838 properties being listed for sale. Consumers had 1,412 homes to select from at the end of June.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Sales activity in the smaller communities around Saskatoon (e.g. Martensville, Warman, Dundurn) remained very balanced with 101 units selling. That number was up 3% from June 2009. The average selling price was up 1% at $254,203 and the year to date average selling price in these areas is up 4% to $252,788. Listing numbers were down 4% with 246 properties being placed on the market for sale as compared to 257 in June 2009.

Similar market activity is expected in the third quarter. New home sales are brisk, interest rates remain attractive, job creation continues to increase and regular in migration is taking place. In addition consumer confidence in the local economy also remains strong. All of these are necessary components of a healthy real estate market environment.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

Local Realtors® reported just fifty-eight firm sales of detached houses and condominiums by the close of business Wednesday, down from eighty-three last week, and below the eighty-nine units sold during the same week a year ago. Condo activity remained relatively strong claiming twenty-four sales while single-family homes recorded thirty-four.

Over the course of the week agents introduced sixty-nine single-family home listings and seventeen condos for a total of eighty-six new MLS® listings, down from 123 the week before and lower than the 119 new listings that entered the system during the same week in 2009.

Of course, a new month also began this week. Six consecutive weeks of year-over-year declines in unit sales took its toll on the monthly sales numbers for the second month in a row. June closed with a total of 364 sales in the residential category, down roughly seventeen percent compared to last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

After five weeks of flat lining, the residential inventory of MLS® listings finally took a clear direction as month end expired listings pushed the numbers lower. Still, the week-over-week decline of fifty-five units was not enough to prevent listings from moving higher on a year-over-year basis for the first time in 2010 as the week closed with a total of 1372 listings to mark a gain of thirty properties compared to the same time last year. Today there are 828 single-family homes and 470 condominiums showing an active status. Single family home inventory gained just three units over the same period last year while condos jumped forty-seven. Fewer duplexes, semi-detached, mobiles and vacant lots account for the other changes.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings came in at just thirty-five this week with twenty-two of those doing a same day return to the system as a new listing. An additional thirty-one Saskatoon home sellers adjusted their asking price this week.

With more than half of Area 1’s sales being smaller condos, not to mention a lack of transactions in the luxury category, the average selling price of a Saskatoon home slid toward annual lows finishing at just $269,992, about a thousand dollars shy of last year’s number. The six-week average slipped to its lowest point since the week of April 23 finishing the week at $295,933, down three thousand dollars from the week before but up over fifteen thousand dollars compared to the same week last year. The four-week median made its largest single week move since the week of March 12 and fell ten thousand dollars to $275,000, just twenty-seven hundred dollars higher than it was at this time in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Fifty-one of fifty-eight sales were wrapped up below the asking price by an average of $8,075. After a few months in the high 2’s, the average discount expressed as a percentage of the asking price broke the three percent mark. Three sellers managed to settle at their asking price and four completed a deal above that number recording an average overbid of $2,354.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Household credit growth slowing: CIBC
Judge denies intervenor status for Realtor and National FSBO Network
U.S. resale prices not expected to hold
Flipping homes can be daunting

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New MLS® listings grew to 123, up eight from last week to finish higher than the same period in 2009 when 110 Saskatoon home sellers listed their home on the Multiple Listing Service®.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The inventory of residential listings crept up again gaining eleven units over the course of the week to finish at 1427, just eight units fewer than were available at this time in 2009.  Most of the gains were recorded in the single-family detached house category, which moved higher to 853 homes while active condo listings fell below the five hundred mark to finish at 495.

I found it interesting that for three consecutive years inventory numbers were essentially the same during this particular week. Of course, in 2009 they were already headed for lower ground. In 2010, they continued to swell taking another three months to reach peak numbers for the year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings came in at forty-two with twenty-five of those being reprocessed as a new listing the same day they came off. Price adjustments crept higher again reaching eighty-six properties.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home bounced higher to once again break the $300,000 mark. The six-week average moved up nearly two thousand dollars to $298,951 and gained more than twenty thousand dollars over the same week last year. The four-week median slid lower for the second week in a row losing fifteen hundred dollars to close at $285,000, up just eight thousand dollars from the same time in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Overbid sales continued to be sparse with just three of this week’s sales recording an above list sale price. The average overbid is heavily skewed by one sale that went over list by forty-four thousand dollars. It was a new house so additional improvements are likely included in the final sale price. Seventy-six of the sales for the week were reported as selling below the asking price by $8,981 on average for a discount of 2.7 percent.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Canada not immune: Central bank
Debt lessons haven’t sunk in for many
Reading the mortgage fine print
Five things to ask before you sign a mortgage
It may burst your bubble, but buy within your means

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS® listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

I’m here for everyone on the site and able to answer any financing questions you may have or come across during your home shopping. Feel free to ask about rates or bring forth any questions you may have as I am happy to help. My service is always free and I look forward to helping anyone with their current or future home purchases!

I’d also like to thank Norm for giving me this opportunity to post on his always informative and growing site!

I’m always happy to answer your mortgage related questions. Please leave me a comment below or call me at 306-260-9918.

Riel Syrenne
The Mortgage Group

On a weekly basis, new listings stayed level as one hundred and fifteen properties were added to the Saskatoon MLS® system, just eight more than were listed during the same period in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

After remaining fairly steady for three consecutive weeks the residential listing inventory had showed some signs that it was ready to turn lower this week and by Wednesday it had dropped to 1,386 properties. Friday saw a surge of forty new MLS® listings and total inventory actually moved higher by ten units on a week-over-week basis to finish at 1,416 properties, just fifty-one fewer than were available at the same time last year.  Single-family inventory grew the most jumping fourteen units to reach 842. At the same time, condo inventory slid slightly losing four units to finish the week at 500 even.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings remained steady at forty-one with twenty-five relists quickly following, most at a lower price. An additional eighty-five price changes were processed over the course of the week, the largest number that I can recall for quite some time, but not at all surprising given the softening in sales activity over the past four weeks.

Prices continued to slip back from the wild bounce they started on two weeks ago when an unusually large share of high-end sales skewed the numbers up. This week, the average selling price of a Saskatoon home slipped $26,000 from the week before to finish at $284,057. The six-week average dropped $3,000 from the previous week to $297,001 and finished $22,000 higher than it was at this time last year. The four-week median lost $3,500 on the week falling to $286,500 to pick up a gain of $17,500 over last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Seventy-four of eighty-three sales traded below the asking price with an average discount of roughly 2.8% or $8,378. Five sellers got their price while four managed a bit of a bonus as buyers agreed to pay an average of $3,075 more than list price.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Carney says interest rate hikes in Canada not ‘preordained’
Home sales sputter in May
May brings lower home sales and fewer listings
May home sales fall 9.5% on new mortgage rules
Affordable housing complex to be built in downtown Saskatoon (local)
Home sales decline (regional)
New rules, rate hike cool housing market
Pleasant Hill’s Parkview Green launched (local)
Why David Rosenberg sees a “cold spring” for real estate
Home owners sell, start renting instead
Lighthouse project to add 65 affordable housing units (local)
Pleasant Hill plan takes initial step (local)
Resales slow dramatically in May after a hot April

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

According to a story on the Star Phoenix website, “An agreement is now in place to develop the city’s most coveted piece of riverfront land with a new deadline and promises that financing for the megaproject will be available soon….Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger said the agreement for the sale of the land paves the way for the company to secure financing.”

I’m totally confused. Here’s why.

On April 12, council voted to reopen negotiations with the developer and to conduct an independent audit to determine if Lake Placid has sufficient financing to complete the project.

On May 25, following what Mayor Don Atchison described as “the most due diligence that the city has done on any land sale,” city council, sitting as an executive committee, reached an agreement on price with Lake Placid.

The story that ran in the Star Phoenix the following day included this bit of text, “We’re ready, willing and able now to proceed with the $200-million project,” Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger said Tuesday. “We have financing in place . . . and are ready to move dirt in June or July.”

Under the new agreement Lake Placid has until November 1 to provide documentation that between $50 million and $60 million dollars in financing is secure.

Huh?

All of our Lake Placid posts are here.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

What was initially a concern for a community taken by surprise seems to have become a cherished neighbourhood treasure as evidenced by dozens of honking cars and waving drivers who showed their support as artists diligently worked at the transformation today.

A few more at my flickr.

There’s a great gallery of the previous theme, Where the Wild Things Are, at the Digital Expressions blog if you haven’t had the chance to see it.

Check out our North Park neighbourhood profile.

I hope that you’re enjoying this gorgeous Saskatoon weekend.

Norm

New listings fell a little harder than sales and may have even signaled that we have passed our peak listing weeks for 2010. Agents processed listings for eighty-four single-family detached houses and thirty-one condos on the Saskatoon multiple listing service® this week. The total of 115 homes represents a drop of twenty-five homes compared to last week and five fewer than were offered for sale during the same period last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Single-family inventory grew by fourteen this week to 828 while the total number of available condos slipped lower by eight to 504. As this same week came to a close last year there were 908 houses and 493 condominiums showing an active status on the Saskatoon MLS®.

The inventory of residential properties listed for sale continued to maintain a fairly straight line for the third week in a row gaining just five units over the course of the week to finish at 1406, eighty-nine fewer than were for sale at the same time in 2009. Only time will tell if the black line will suddenly continue higher or take a downward curve but history suggests that the line doesn’t stay straight for long and once it heads lower it generally continues that downward trek through the balance of the year. The next couple of weeks should tell the story.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings inched lower from forty-two to thirty-eight with just half of those making a return appearance with a new MLS® number and a new listing banner. An additional sixty-three sellers signed a price adjustment.

Prices cooled considerably compared to the lofty heights they reached last week but continued strength in the upper end market kept the average selling price pretty close to peak numbers for 2010 at $310,082. The six-week average crept higher by six hundred dollars compared to last week to finish at $300,689, nearly twenty-four thousand dollars higher than it was for the same period last year. The four-week median held steady at $289,000 to claim a year-over-year gain of almost twenty-two thousand dollars.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Sixty-one of seventy-two reported sales occurred below the asking price by an average on $8,549, or 2.7% of the asking price. Eight buyers paid what the seller was asking and three area 2 home buyers paid more than list by an average of $7,983. One of the three sales reported a price that was $22,500 above list and accounted for the majority of this week’s overbid dollars. It was a new condo so the extra dollars were most likely paid for upgrades.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Housing starts unexpectedly fall
Housing starts double in city (local)
Housing market could have wind knocked out of its sails
Home prices edge higher in April
Should first-time buyers leap in or wait
New housing price index for April
New office building proposed (local)

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Single-family detached home sales softened through the month of May falling to 232 units, down nineteen from April to fall short of last May’s numbers by fifteen homes. Those that did sell moved far quicker (twenty-eight days) than they did during the same month last year when houses took an average on forty days to sell.

The inventory of active house listings continued to push higher but still fell short of last year’s highs. At the close of the month 822 single-family homes were showing an active status on the Saskatoon multiple listing service. That number represents a gain of one hundred units over the month and a decline of sixty-nine on a year-over-year basis. Still, housing inventory took a big step into more of a “balanced market” territory as the “months of supply” expanded from 2.9 months at the end of April to 3.5 months by the end of May.

Average house prices inched lower to $321,263 dropping by about $8,600 when compared to April. The average selling price of a Saskatoon house was up just under ten thousand dollars when compared with May of 2009. The median slipped lower by three thousand dollars on a month-over-month basis falling to $315,000 and recording a gain of twenty thousand dollars on the year. The three-month average pushed up slightly to $320,946 and also finished up by roughly twenty thousand over the past twelve months. Only eight single-family home sales were recorded above the $500,000 mark in May whereas April produced twenty sales in that range. April’s price numbers were certainly skewed higher by this unusually larger number of sales at the market’s high end.

While house sales began to cool off Saskatoon condominium sales remained strong. 117 units changed hands during the month, up from 104 in the month of April and just slightly higher than the 111 units that sold in May of 2009.

Condominium inventory spiked higher through May reaching 503 by the end of the month to bring us the first year-over-year inventory gain that we’ve seen in nearly twelve months. Total condo inventory moved up from 444 at the close of April to finish May above last year’s number of 480. Still, increased demand kept the “months of inventory” from swelling further. It remained steady at a 4.3-month supply following a big jump in April when it moved to up from just 3.2 months in March.

Saskatoon condo prices surged forward again with the average selling price reaching $242,998, up nearly thirteen thousand dollars from last month. The year-over-year gain was substantial moving more than fifteen percent from $210,544 last May. The median selling price showed similar gains climbing $26,000 over the past year to $235,000. The three-month average moved up less gaining just one thousand dollars from April and seventeen thousand dollars on a year-over-year basis.

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings of Saskatoon homes bounced back from a surprisingly low number of just 109 last week to reach 140, twenty-two fewer than the 162 offered for sale over the same period last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

In spite of new listing activity that nearly doubled up on sales, inventory finally took a break from its climb and held firm at 1401 with no change from the previous week. After seventeen consecutive weeks of gains to the active listing numbers forty-nine listings that expired during the finals days of May kept the inventory from moving higher. Today, we’re just seventy-eight units shy of the number of properties available at this time last year. Taking a closer look at the “homes” categories, condo inventory increased by nine from last week to finish at 512, roughly two-dozen more than were available last year at this time. Single-family detached homes are sitting at 814, down about eighty-five units from the same week last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings came in higher this week at forty-two. Twenty-six of those returned to the system bearing a new MLS number and a fancy “new listing” banner.

National housing news took an abrupt turn as talk moved from the question of “are we in a bubble?” to proclamations that the bubble has burst as news of sliding home sale numbers from markets across Western Canada found their way to the public domain. The Canadian Real Estate Association even released some revised predictions calling for a softening in home prices through 2011. I suspect it was a sudden realization that we may have just passed the peak that caused seventy-one Saskatoon home sellers to adjust their asking price this week.

Pardon me? Did someone say prices are falling?

You may recall that last week an unusually large share of sales at the lower end of the market pushed average prices lower. This week, those numbers sorted themselves out and a whack of upper end sales were firmed up including two homes averaging $830,000 each. Of the seventy-eight sales reported this week, fourteen were priced above $400,000. Area five saw an extraordinary week with seven of eleven sales topping $300,000. These factors all contributed to a week that saw the average selling price of a Saskatoon home leap to its highest level this year, $322,656. The six-week average pushed higher by nearly thirty-six hundred dollars to crack the $300,000 mark once again and finished up about nineteen thousand dollars over the same week last year. The four-week median moved in tandem gaining four thousand dollars on the week to reach $289,000 and picking up $19K compared to the same week in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Buyers were not oblivious to the fact that their positioned has strengthened some. The percentage of homes selling below the asking price continued to see some growth as seventy sellers came to the negotiation table and approved an average cut of $9,019 or a discount of about 2.7%. Five sellers got their full asking price and three managed to conclude a deal for more than list by an average of $4,090. Once again, the lion’s share of the average overbid can be attributed to one sale that went over by more than nine thousand dollars.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

BMO lowers fixed mortgage rates
Second mortgages: Pile on the debt, pile on the risk
Carney plots cautious rate path with small increase
CREA lowers housing forecast
House prices to fall next year
Calgary tipped as best real estate market for investors
House sales dipped in May, prices rose
Shine comes off housing boom
The little matter of affordability
The market’s jagged little pill
Week ahead: Housing market in focus

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

The residential housing market remained steady in the month of May. Unit sales were down 4% with 354 units selling compared to 369 in May of 2009. Year to date, unit sales are up 5% with 1,501 units having sold.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average price in May was $294,516, up 5% from May 2009 when the average selling price was $279,287. Year to date, the average selling price is also up 5% to $289,324.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

REALTORS® have sold $434,275,000 worth of real estate this year, up 10% from this time in 2009 when $393,349,000 worth of real estate had sold. Listing numbers are up 8% from May of 2009 with 779 properties having been listed during the same month this year. Listing numbers for the year are on par with last year. 3,162 properties have been placed on the market in 2010. Home buyers had 1,403 homes to select from at the end of May.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The market softened slightly in communities around the city. For example, unit sales in Martensville, Warman, Clavet and Dundurn totalled 86, down from 97 in May 2009. The average selling price in these communities was $271,192, up 14% from last year when it was $238,904. The number of new listings was down slightly last month with 272 properties being placed on the market, 4% lower than last year when 284 homes were offered for sale.

Consumers are expressing confidence in the local economy as evidenced by their buying patterns. New home construction is doing well, retail sales are strong and when coupled with low interest rates conditions are favourable for a vibrant market. Sales and listing activity is expected to remain similar to the end of the second quarter.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings of Saskatoon homes tumbled further dropping nearly a third of last week’s volume to just one hundred and nine, down from one hundred and twenty-seven for the same period in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Still, active residential real estate listings managed to move higher for the seventeenth consecutive week to break the fourteen hundred mark for the first time since the week of June 22-26 2009. Total active listings continue to close the gap on last year’s numbers but still remain slightly lower than the 1502 homes Saskatoon home buyers had to chose from at the same time last year.

The current condominium inventory moved ahead of last year’s numbers finishing the week at 503 units, a gain of just three compared to the same week in 2009, but higher just the same. As of this morning, there are 822 detached houses for sale, down roughly ten percent from the same week last year when 910 of them showed an active status on the Saskatoon MLS® system.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings declined from last week with just thirty-two homes showing activity in those categories. Twenty-three of those returned to the MLS® on the very same day with their “days on the market” reset to zero. Sixty-three MLS® listings adopted a new pricing strategy this week.

Properties priced below the average took an unusually high share of activity this week and pushed the average price of a Saskatoon home lower by more than fifteen thousand dollars compared to last week to just $279,533, its lowest point since the week of March 1-5. The six-week average continued to form a downward curve as it dropped twenty-four hundred dollars from last week to $296,432. That measure still sits about fifteen thousand dollars higher than it was for the same week a year ago. The four-week median was up an equal amount on a year-over-year basis, but showed a drop of four thousand from last week and finished at $285,000.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Overbidding was not a popular approach this week as just three home sellers managed a deal above their asking price, and those that did settled for fairly small bonuses averaging just $183. An additional six sellers accepted an offer at full list price while sixty-four of the seventy-three sales reported this week came in below asking by an average of $7,237, or an average percentage discount of 2.5.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Canadian home prices expected to drop as costs rise
Overvalued homes, higher mortgage rates drop hot resale market
Home ownership costs rise across Canada
Canadian homes overvalued: CIBC
Rising household debt threatens recovery
Realtors rush to ease correction fears
Bank of Canada should hike interest rates: OECD
Thefts at open houses a new worry
US style correction unlikely in Canada: CREA
Canadians need not fear US style correction: CREA
Price gains slow across country: National Bank of Canada

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Star Phoenix writer David Hutton is reporting that “City council, sitting as an executive committee, made the decision in private Tuesday afternoon to advertise the land sale before it was announced at the evening council meeting. The sale still requires the blessing of city council on June 14 because the purchase is for less than market value.”

Recent appraisals on the land suggested a market value of approximately $11 million. Lake Placid had previously purchased the land for $4.8 million but lost it to the city when they failed to meet payment deadlines in October of last year.

On March 22 of this year, Lake Placid CEO Michael Lobsinger appeared before council indicating that he had formed a partnership with Dr. Karim Nasser and that financing had been secured to complete the $200 million dollar River Landing Village previously approved by council.

In mid-April, council agreed to enter into negotiations with Lake Placid subject to an independent audit to ensure that adequate financing was in place to complete the project.

Council will formally vote to approve the sale at the June 14 council meeting after hearing from anyone who might be opposed to the sale. Lobsinger indicates that he’s “ready to move dirt in June or July” and believes that the project can be completed in 36-months.

Read more from David Hutton’s report here.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

Regionally, the greatest erosion in housing affordability occurred in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Owning a home in Saskatchewan took a bigger chunk of household budgets in the first quarter. This more than reversed a small decline in the last three months of 2009. RBC affordability measures rose between 0.9 and 1.6 percentage points, representing some of the stronger increases in the country (although trailing far behind British Columbia). After flattening or declining marginally in previous quarters, housing prices picked up notably in the province in the first few months of this year; however, with sales slowing and the number of homes available for sale growing more recently, further price increases are unlikely to be as hefty in the near term. Despite the deterioration in the first quarter, affordability measures remain well off the peak levels of early 2008 – which were also the all-time highs in Saskatchewan.

Read the full report here.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @norm_fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings of detached houses and condos continued to show some real strength picking up four units from last week to finish at 157, a gain of nineteen homes when compared with the same week last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Active listings in the residential category bolted higher to record the largest weekly increase this year. As of this morning, there are 1,376 residential properties showing an active status on the Saskatoon Multiple Listing Service, up seventy-three from last week but still lower than the 1528 which were available at the close of the same week last year when inventory hit its peak for 2009. As the growing inventory is showing no signs of softening I expect that we’ll be talking about year-over-year growth in available listings for the first time since June of 2009 within the next few weeks.

At the same time, sales should begin to soften some as we move into June causing the total “months of inventory” to see some gains and ushering in more favourable conditions for buyers. Sales in June and July of last year were uncharacteristically strong as interest rates fell to historic lows. It’s highly unlikely that those sales numbers are realistic for 2010 so we’ll probably start hearing reports of growing listings and declining sales by the close of June.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings picked up some stream and increased by fourteen from last week to forty-five, though the majority of those (34) were immediately relisted. Price changes jumped higher to eighty-four with the majority moving lower while a small handful of condos at the Silverleaf on Main Street moved higher.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home inched higher gaining almost three thousand dollars from last week to finish at $294,920. The six-week average slipped just over a thousand dollars on the week to $298,710 and finished higher than the same week last year by twenty-two thousand dollars. The four-week median bounced higher and gained four thousand dollars on the previous week to reach $289,000, up nineteen thousand dollars year-over-year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Roughly ten percent of Saskatoon home sellers got a little more than they asked with an average overbid of $2,293 while sixty-eight did a deal below the list price at an average discount of 2.5% or $7,403.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

New housing listings soar as experts expect slowdown
Housing market expected to moderate this year: CMHC
House prices to rise modestly: CMHC
Real estate strikes a balance (local)
Plunging confidence drives down rates
Housing starts, prices on the rise (local)
Canada’s smartest cities 2010: Macleans (Saskatoon, you’re apparently pretty smart!)
Resale housing market expected to make gains (local)
New rules cuff some mortgagees to banks
Cost of living in province on the rise

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @norm_fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Meanwhile, new listings in the same categories fell back to 153, a drop of ten from the previous week, but ahead the numbers from the same week in 2009 by eighteen.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The inventory of active residential listings on the Saskatoon MLS system pushed higher again this week to break 1,300 units for the first time since July 18, 2009. As of this morning, there were 1,303 residential properties listed for sale, a solid gain of nearly fifty properties compared to last week, but more than 200 fewer than were available at this time last year. The stock of Saskatoon homes includes 453 condos and 782 detached single-family homes. Detached houses have clocked the largest recent gains moving up sixty units in the past couple of weeks. Given the upward momentum that is evident on the active listings graph it seems likely that listings will peak later this year than last. It was the week of May 23 (next week) in 2009 when inventory reached its high point for 2009 with 1528 listings. After that, it fell steadily for the balance of the year. Given the change this year, we may be talking “up over last year” in just a few weeks if the current trend continues.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings were softer this week with thirty-one homes being removed from the system. Twenty of those later re-appeared with days on the market reset to zero. A whopping seventy-three price changes were recorded this week, the largest number I can recall for quite some time. All but one brave soul took their price south while the lone holdout raised theirs by more than fifteen percent to take it well above the $500,000 mark, even after nearly thirty days on the market at the lower price. You sir, have guts. We wish you well.

The steady upward trend that we’ve seen in prices over the past several weeks came to an end as the average selling price of a Saskatoon home fell over thirteen thousand dollars from last week to $292,009. Still, the six-week average managed to inch higher stalling just below 300K to gain roughly eight hundred dollars on last week and beating last year’s number by nearly 20K. The four-week median fell one thousand dollars from last week to finish at $285,000 and recorded a gain of $15,000 year-over-year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Six of eighty-five Saskatoon home sellers managed to bag a deal at an amount greater than their asking price, by $3,515 on average. Once again, the average overbid amount was skewed higher by one deal that showed a five-figure overbid. Seven sellers got their asking price and seventy-two signed an offer below asking by an average of $8,018 or about 2.7% of the list.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Housing starts rise significantly
Rising mortgage rates, rising trouble
Canadian household debt soars
Police to probe BMO mortgage fraud

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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.

Real estate geeks can follow our daily updates on Twitter @norm_fisher.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

So far this year, 542 homes have been started in the Saskatoon census metropolitan area, up from 114 during the first four months of 2009.

The majority of this year’s starts are detached single-family homes (442) while the balance fall to the multi-family category consisting of semi-detached homes, apartments and town homes.

According to CMHC, April marks the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year gains for single-family home starts in Saskatoon.

Nationally, housing start numbers were pushed higher by strong growth in the multi-family category while single-family starts waned.

CMHC’s full report is here.

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.

Our Saskatoon home search tool offers MLS listings represented by all real estate brands, presented with more detail than you’ll find anywhere else. Check it out here.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

On the heels of a couple of relatively soft weeks for new listings, home sellers came out strong and 163 homes were introduced to the Saskatoon multiple listing service, up twenty-four from last week, but fewer than the number listed during the same week last year by thirty-three.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Active Saskatoon real estate listings in the residential category turned higher again picking up twenty-nine on the previous week to finish at 1254, roughly seventeen percent lower than they were at this time in 2009. Given the large disparity between sales and new listings you might have expected inventory to grow more than it did but this week saw some thirty cancellations that weren’t immediately relisted and almost as many homes that expired at the end of a listing term without a sale. There were also twenty-seven new conditional sales reported over the week that are not included in the active numbers.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Cancelled and withdrawn listings totaled fifty-four with just twenty-two being immediately re-listed. Sixty-six price changes were recorded this week.

All three price measures showed some growth again. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home came in at $305,076, up just under six hundred dollars from last week. The six-week average reached a new high for the year at $299,073 to finish up nearly three thousand dollars on the week and twenty-two thousand dollars higher than the same week last year. The four-week median managed to creep up another thousand dollars to hit $286,000, up from $270,000 for the same week in 2009.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Overbid activity was weak with just three of eighty-three Saskatoon sellers getting more than their list price. The average overbid was a hefty $15,100 but nearly all of the excess dollars can be attributed to just one sale; a new property that likely included some additional improvements that brought the price up. The other two sales were each over list by just one hundred dollars. An additional sixteen buyers brought the seller a full price offer. Sixty-four buyers managed to grind a deal with an average underbid of $9,246 to mark the fourth consecutive week that the number increased. This week’s average underbid represents an average discount of 2.9% of the asking price. That’s the highest that it has been since the week of March 8-12.

Click the image for a larger version of the chart.

Highlights from the news this week

Housing affordability: the great quandary
Greenspan wanted housing bubble dissent kept secret
Average house price, listings up in April (local)
Bank of Montreal alleges huge mortgage fraud
House prices to drop: TD
House prices to drop in all but three provinces
Saskatchewan household debt rises (local)
Banks lower five-year interest rate
Developer tells city to ‘step on the gas in north downtown (local)
What housing bubble? Canada’s bubblet ending wit faint pop
Record home sales and prices set in April
Saskatchewan’s resources to take centre stage
House plans: Percentage of Canadians who plan to buy rises in last year

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate

Single-family detached home sales pushed slightly higher on a month-over-month basis reaching 251 units, a gain of just seventeen sales compared to last month. Typically, we expect to see a larger ramping up of sales as we move into April but that bump is absent this year. Still, April single-family home sales did exceed those recorded during the same month last year when just 235 houses changed hands.

The inventory of active house listings continued to pick up some steam moving higher by 118 listings over the course of the month to reach 722. That’s still 125 units fewer than were available at this time last year but the large gap that has existing in year-over-year active listing inventory numbers is narrowing. From a “months of supply” perspective, the inventory of single-family homes grew by 0.3 months in April but remained just below three-months, a reasonable balance of inventory. Some supply issues remain for buyers of houses priced under $350,000 where the supply falls to less than two months creating ideal conditions for sellers.

Average house prices headed for higher ground in April moving nearly nineteen thousand dollars from the previous month to finish at $329,871. That represents a gain of nearly ten percent when compared with April of 2009 when the average selling price of a house in Saskatoon was $300,900 but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Sales of houses priced above $500,000 were sharply higher last month when comparing their performance against the first quarter of the year, and more than double what they were in April of last year. This past month saw twenty house sales above that mark, compared to nine during the same period last year, and just twenty-two for the entire first quarter of 2010. When the $500,000 and higher price category doubles its share of sales you naturally get this upward push even if prices had stayed relatively stable.

Saskatoon condominium sales showed similar struggles getting into the spring groove posting sale numbers that were lower month-over-month, and year-over-year. Saskatoon real estate agents reported just 104 firm condominium sales, seven fewer than we saw in March and down by six compared to April of last year. Given the heat in the condo market through the first quarter of the year, we probably shouldn’t be surprised. As of April 30, 343 condos had already been sold for the year, a gain of seventy-five over the same period last year.

Condominium inventory came on pretty strong growing by nearly twenty-five percent over the month to finish at 444 homes, not far below the 475 condos available at the same time in 2009. Weaker sales and lots of new listings caused a significant jump in the overall supply as total “months of inventory” swelled to 4.3 picking up a gain of over a month. The line on our condo listings graph appears to have some upward momentum and I’ll be surprised if we don’t start seeing numbers in this category exceed those of 2009 in the near future.

Condo prices moved in the same direction as houses posting gains on the month and the year. The average price of a Saskatoon condo came in at $230,394, up nearly nine thousand dollars from the previous month and roughly eleven thousand dollars higher than April 2009. Sales of condos above the $300,000 mark came in at the expected range with 17 units sold, just a few more than what traded in the same month last year so we’re not seeing the upward skewing of prices that occurred with single-family homes.

In summary, there does appear to be a softening of demand occurring in the Saskatoon real estate market. Typically, unit sales peak in May and then begin a slow descent through the balance of the year. The inventory of listings saw some pretty aggressive growth over the last week of March and the first three weeks of April, but since then there has been a noticeable softening in the overall numbers and it looks like active listings could also reach their peak in May as they did last year.

A map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas is here.
An overview of data collection and calculation practices for our statistical reports is here.

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 Saskatoon Real Estate