New listings of Saskatoon houses and condominiums remained soft for the third consecutive week. A total of 94 homes were added to the MLS including 62 single-family homes and 32 condominiums. Additionally, 41 of 69 homes that were cancelled or withdrawn over the past week made a return entry to the system disguised as a new listing. Month end expired listings pushed the active inventory of Saskatoon homes for sale to its lowest point since the week of August 4-8, down nearly 9% from its peak during the week of September 22-26 to settle at 1,604 units including 979 single-family homes and 523 condos.

Following one of the softest sales weeks this year, residential unit sales rebounded to 48 units including 34 houses, 13 condos and one duplex. The gap between new listings and weekly sales was as small as it’s been since the week of March 10-14. As the week drew to a close, so did the month of October which recorded a total of 215 residential sales, well below the 280 units sold last October, but close enough to pre-boom Octobers to give us some hope that things have not completely collapsed in the Saskatoon real estate market.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average price of the homes that sold this week bounced back to $290,541, up from $280,071 the week before, while the median sale price moved up about $7,000 to $275,000. The six-week rolling average slid down about $5K and the four-week median sale price remained fairly stable compared to the previous seven weeks. Note that both of those value measures are sitting at late March and early April levels, suggesting that any gains experienced since that time have been lost, or gained, depending on whether you’re selling or buying. The six-week rolling average is about $20,000 lower than its peak in June, and the four-week median price is about $25,000 lower than it was when it reached its highest level in late June.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The largest majority of this week’s buying activity occurred somewhere below the asking price with 45 of 47 buyers managing a discount. The average underbid shot higher to $16,501 largely driven by a few sellers that made some serious moves off of their asking price including one sale of $225,000 on a listing priced of $349,900. The buyer describes the property as an “absolute mess” which requires a total gutting so it would seem that it was significantly overpriced. It’s the largest list price to sale price gap, on a percentage basis that I’ve seen so far.

I thought it might be a good time to have a look at a few of the more notable sales that provide some insight into how things have changed.

•    Lakewood townhome, 1,176 square feet with a single attached garage sells for $210,000. Nine of these units have traded this year at an average price of $243,500, and with the highest sale hitting $265,000 in March.
•    Wildwood bungalow, 1,414 square feet plus a developed basement. Upgraded high-efficient furnace, central air, windows, flooring and paint on the main level sells for $240,000.
•    West College Park bungalow, 1,150 square feet plus a developed basement. Hardwood floors, upgraded kitchen, some newer windows, covered back yard deck at $275,000.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here
Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listing activity in the Saskatoon real estate market remained soft for the second week in a row with just 95 residential properties being offered for sale including 68 single-family homes and 27 condominiums. A total of 78 properties were cancelled or withdrawn from the market over the course of the week, and 51 of those same homes made another appearance as a new listing. Still, the total inventory of active real estate listings advanced marginally from 1,673 last week to settle at 1,690 including 1,050 houses and 533 condos.

Unit sales of houses and condos also saw a decline falling to just 38 units, down from 45 the previous week. Only three weeks in 2008 saw weaker sales numbers, once in January, once in August and once in September.  Changing mortgage rules are now in effect, and tougher credit criteria along with concerns about the global economy are undoubtedly side lining some prospective buyers. Given all that’s going on right now, and as close as we are to these changing conditions, 38 units will strike some as a fairly remarkable number. Total residential unit sales for the month of October are presently at 169. We should likely hit 200, but we’ll almost certainly fall short of my “just for fun” guess of 225 units that I threw out in last week’s review.

Click here for a larger version of the graph.

Over the course of the week 97 price changes were recorded on the local MLS system. The average sale price remained stable compared to last week at $280,071 but the six-week average took a dip towards $295K as one of two “plus one million dollar sales” fell out of the back end. The median price of a Saskatoon home also came in lower falling to $267,900 from $280,000 the previous week.

Click here for a larger version of the graph.

It’s no big surprise that all but one of this week’s sales were reported as having sold below the asking price. 37 or 38 buyers managed to negotiate a purchase at an average of $12,787 below list price, a number that is more or less typical of what we’ve been seeing over the past two months.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here
Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Before we get started with last week’s real estate activity I want to point out a couple of changes that I’ve introduced to the “Week in Review” which you can expect to see on an ongoing basis. First, I’ve added the median selling price for each of the five areas to the graphic that you’re accustomed to seeing each week. A number of people have requested that this information be added. Secondly, at Bookrat’s request I’m adding a graph that plots the weekly average selling price in comparison to the six-week average selling price. Bookrat has been tracking these stats himself and was kind enough to send me an image of his graph. I had to agree that it adds some interesting detail and helps make better sense of the weekly numbers. Thanks for your help Bookrat! Finally, you’ll notice another graph, which plots weekly unit sales against new listings for the week. As always, please remember that most of my stats are based on single-family homes and condos unless otherwise specified. I hope you like these additions. Now, let’s take a look at what happened in the Saskatoon real estate market over the past week.

New listings took a serious nosedive coming in at their lowest levels since the week of January 28 – February 1. A total of 96 properties were offered for sale on the multiple listing service including 76 single-family homes and 20 condominiums. Total active residential listings fell to 1,673 units to find their lowest level since the week of August 18-22. A total of 49 listings were cancelled or withdrawn and 29 of those properties found their way back to the system as new listings. 89 price adjustments were approved over the course of the week. Today’s active listing inventory consists of 1,045 houses and 529 condos. The “units sold vs. units listed” graph indicates that there has been some narrowing of the massive gap that developed between the two through the spring.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Unit sales fell to 45 units from 49 the week before. 42 buyers managed to negotiate a contract below the asking price to the tune of $12,502 on average. The average selling price was down from previous weeks, reaching its lowest level since the week of August 25-29 to settle at $280,096. The average selling price of a Saskatoon home was fairly consistent with the median price, which came in at $280,000 for the week.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

See a Google map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas” here
Data collection and calculation for our statistical reports

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.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @SaskatoonHomes.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate