Saskatoon real estate: Week in review (February 4-8 2008)
Saskatoon real estate sales slid slightly again this week while new residential listings took a pretty substantial jump. As a result, total active listings were up close to 10% over the previous week with a total of 377 properties displaying a for sale sign. At the close of the week there were 182 houses (detached single-family homes) and 154 condominiums for sale in Saskatoon.
While you wouldn’t guess it from the numbers alone, the market was extremely active and agents were reporting stories of new listings attracting large numbers of showings. One new listing that I brought on recently had 31 buyers through it between noon and 6:30 PM, the day we opened it for showings. I think that the weaker sales numbers can be explained by the return of the “delayed presentation of offers” strategy which has very suddenly become the prevalent practice once again.
In spite of massive increases in asking prices over last year, “overbidding” once again became fashionable and approximately 37% of the Saskatoon homes which were reported as sold went for more than the asking price. This is the highest percentage of sales in this category since to week of September 10-14, and well ahead of the numbers we were seeing at this time last year. Average overbids once again jumped into five figure territory, and reached a whopping $16,700 in area 4.
The average underbid was also fairly substantial at close to $9,000. This is an indication that there’s a fair bit of product out there with a well padded list price and buyers should really take some care in deciding on an offer strategy.
I find myself saddened and frustrated at the prospect of another insane spring in Saskatoon housing. Let’s hope that this run is shorter and less substantial than the last.
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
7 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Norm,
Any notable sales? I always look forward to them!
May 21st, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Jedi,
Alright. It starts gets tricky to pick up on the “notables” when you’re looking at them daily. It’s like “another quarter million dollar sale in Rversdale. Well whoop-de-do!”
How about $375K for a 1092 square foot Nutana Park bungalow with a double detached garage.
$349K for a 1123 apartment on Adelaide Street East.
$99K for a 391 square foot apartment on 7th Street (only interesting because I’ve never seen an apartment under 400 feet).
251,700 for a Mayfair bungalow of 820′ with a single garage.
$200K for an 805′ bungalow on Avenue M South.
Today, you can pay $258K for an 840′ bungalow in Massey Place, $260K for a 910′ four-level split in Parkridge, or $420K for a 1300 square foot bi-level with a double attached garage in Westview Heights.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Thanks Norm. WOW! nuff said
May 21st, 2009 at 12:10 PM
There was an article published in the paper and picked up by the tv stations on a 30-odd % increase predicted for this year. I think you might have mentioned it already on your blog. Could this be having an impact on the increased traffic (overbidding, higher # of calls, etc) or do you feel it is more of a seasonal factor as we head into spring?
May 21st, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Something,
We have been talking about that here.
This “report” was released early in the week. Most of the sales shown in this weeks review would have gone conditional the week before, so no, we probably can’t blame CMHC for this directly. Things seem to have been ramping up slowly over the last few weeks. The CMHC report has caused some “hype” thougb for sure. I received a handful of calls and emails after it came out from people who wanted to rush out and buy something.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Contractor’s prices up in Toontown:
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/080211/b021117A.html
May 21st, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Saskatoon lost 100 jobs in January (?) I heard on the news last night. That’s a bit odd given our economy. 377 residences up for sale, I think we’ll see that number go higher by spring. It seems 2008 isn’t shaping up to be such a hot market, certainly not like 2007.