New listings bounced higher and gained twenty-five properties from last week for a total of eighty-eight houses and condominiums, coming very close to last year’s tally for the same period with ninety-two Saskatoon homes were offered for sale. That’s about as close as we’ve come to hitting the previous year’s listing numbers since spring of this year.

In spite of the fact that new listings exceeded sales by nearly twenty homes, month end expired listings pushed the inventory of active Saskatoon MLS listings lower again to a total of eight hundred and ninety-five listings, marking the first weekly close below nine hundred units since spring of last year. Last year at this time, inventory had passed its peak and was declining rapidly, but its fall started from a much higher point and at the end of the same week in 2008 nearly sixteen hundred properties were still for sale. The current inventory consists of five hundred and twenty-two houses and three hundred and fourteen condominiums with the balance of the inventory consisting of duplexes, semi-detached homes, mobiles and vacant lots. At the close of the same week last year we had nine hundred and seventy-one houses and five hundred and twenty-three condominiums showing an active status on our system.

Cancelled and withdrawn listing remained low at just eighteen properties, and seven of those immediately returned as a new listing. Meanwhile, the Saskatoon multiple listing service processed forty-one price adjustments.

Following a couple of weeks that were uncharacteristically soft on price due to lower end market activity, the average selling price of a Saskatoon home bounced back, increasing approximately thirty-seven thousand dollars from last week to $292,327. The six-week average price made some upward gains climbing three thousand dollars on a week-over-week basis to $279,270, lower than last year’s number by roughly seventy-four hundred dollars. The four-week median also made gains picking up nearly six thousand dollars on the week and finishing about a thousand dollars behind the four-week median for this week last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Higher selling prices brought the average underbid for homes that sold below the asking price to $11,037 from $9,807 the week before. The average discount also edged slightly higher to nearly 3.7% from 3.4% the previous week. The percentage of Saskatoon homes selling within ten thousand dollars of the asking price remained high at seventy-six percent marking the fifth consecutive weeks that it has hovered in the seventy percent or higher range. The remainder of completed deals for this week was evenly split amongst the other higher discount categories.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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.

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

Saskatoon single-family home sales remained strong through the month of October posting an impressive one hundred and ninety-six sales, down from two hundred and thirty-six last month but ahead of last October by thirty-four properties. On average, Saskatoon houses took thirty-nine days to sell, the same time as last month, and on par with the same month last year. The inventory of single-family homes showing an active status at month end was five hundred and fifty-six, down forty-four properties from last month, and far below inventory levels at this time last year when nine hundred and ninety Saskatoon houses were available. In spite of a month-over-month drop in active listings, the total supply of available houses increased from 2.5 months in September to 2.8 months by the end of October.

The average sale price of a house in Saskatoon gained some traction and climbed nearly ten thousand dollars month-over-month to reach $312,938 and trumping the average price from October of last year by roughly two thousand dollars. The median selling price finished up one thousand dollars from September and six thousand dollars higher than last year at $296,000. The three-month average price for a Saskatoon house dipped nearly two thousand dollars from last month to $307,106 or about four thousand dollars lower than the same month in 2008.

The average price per square foot of a Saskatoon house gained five dollars over last month to finish at two hundred and fifty one dollars, just below this year’s peak of two hundred and fifty-two dollars in February and slightly higher than last October’s figure of two hundred and forty-seven dollars per square foot.

Once again, Saskatoon condominium sales were exceeding all expectations as lower prices pushed unit sales higher to one hundred and three units, a gain of six properties from September, and up a whopping one hundred and fifty percent from October 2008 when just forty condos traded. Active condo listings continued to decline falling to three hundred and twenty units, down thirty-one from last month and about forty percent lower than last year when five hundred and thirty Saskatoon condos were available. The total supply of condo inventory actually fell from 3.6 months in September to 3.1 months by the close of October. The average days on the market remained steady at forty-one.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon condominium fell again, but more sharply in October than it did in September. Lower prices were fueled by ten area four sales that sold at less than $100,000. The average price finished at $209,614, down nearly sixteen thousand dollars from last month, and fifteen thousand dollars below last October’s figure of $224,919. The median price slid even further dropping nineteen thousand dollars from last month to $198,000 and closed the month twelve grand below last year’s median of $210,000. The three-month average fell three thousand dollars month-over-month to $222,485 and finished lower than last October by about eight thousand dollars.

Changes to the average cost per square foot for a Saskatoon condo were far less dramatic as it dropped just two dollars compared to September and finished the month at $217, fourteen dollars lower than the same month last year.

Remember, averages and cost per square foot numbers can provide some useful insights into pricing trends but they’re not as useful when engaging in an actual transaction. If you’re buying or selling you should be seeking current information on active listings and recent sales, which are most comparable to your property in terms of location, size, features and amenities.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate “areas”
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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

For the record, CREA is a national association of REALTOR® members. All REALTORS® working in Canada are members of the association. CREA provides governance for the real estate industry at the national level and works in the interest of REALTOR® members. While I am a member of CREA, I do not a represent the organization and I have no authority to speak on their behalf. The following post reflects my opinions and understandings of what has transpired to date, based on a letter to members from CREA president Dale Ripplinger.

Here is a bit of a backgrounder and an overview of the policies, which the Competition Bureau has challenged CREA on.

In 2007, the membership of the Canadian Real Estate Association approved the “Three Pillars of the MLS® Mark” and Interpretations.

The Three Pillars of the MLS® Mark

1)    Membership – Only REALTORS® may place a listing on a Board/Association’s MLS® System.
2)    Agency – A listing REALTOR® must act as agent for the seller to sell the property and to assist the seller throughout the entire time of the listing contract.
3)    Compensation to Cooperating Broker – The listing REALTOR® agrees to pay to the cooperating REALTOR® compensation for the cooperative selling of the property.

The Interpretations of the Three Pillars of the MLS® Mark

1)    The listing REALTOR® shall receive and present all offers and counter offers to the seller.
2)    The listing REALTOR® shall be available to provide professional advice and counsel to the seller on all offers and counter offers unless otherwise directed by the seller in writing.
3)    The mere posting of property information in an MLS® system is contrary to CREA’s Rules. A “mere posting” occurs when the listing agreement relieves the listing member of any obligations under the Rules, including the obligation that the listing REALTOR® remain the agent of the seller throughout the term of the listing contract.
4)    The listing REALTOR® is responsible and accountable for the accuracy of information submitted to a Board/Association for inclusion in the Board’s MLS® system, and the Board/Association is responsible for ensuring that the data submitted to it meets reasonable standards of quality.
5)    Only REALTORS® are permitted to display the MLS® trademarks in signage, advertising, etc.
6)    Only the listing REALTOR® name(s) and contact information may appear on REALTOR.ca. The seller’s name or contact information shall not appear on REALTOR.ca or in the public remarks section of the MLS® system.
7)    In cases where a Board permits listings in which the seller has reserved the right to sell the property himself/herself, that fact shall be specified in the Board’s MLS® database.

The same year that these articles were passed, CREA was served a Section 11 Order, an investigatory order requiring CREA to produce documents related to CREA’s rules and the operation of an MLS® System. CREA has been engaged in regular discussions with the Bureau since the issuance of the Section 11 Order.

The Bureau ultimately concluded that specific aspects of CREA’s Three Pillars of the MLS® Mark and the accompanying Interpretations prevent innovative business models, and the potential “unbundling” of real estate services that could allow sellers to play a larger role in the home selling process, even while utilizing the limited services of a REALTOR®.

Specifically, the Competition Bureau has asked CREA to remove the “Agency” pillar, as well as interpretations 1, 3 and 6. Under the Bureau’s proposed remedy, the other two “pillars” would remain, and so would Interpretations 2, 4, 5 and 7.

It seems apparent, based on the articles targeted for removal that the Bureau would like to see REALTORS® having the option to offer limited services that do not bind the REALTOR® to meet fiduciary obligations that are normally assumed as a result of an agency relationship. Those obligations include accountability, confidentiality, full disclosure, competent care, obedience, loyalty, as well as protection and promotion of the client’s interests. If these obligations were removed, a REALTOR® could, on behalf of a seller, list a property for sale on an MLS® and then allow the seller to perform all of the other services normally provided by agents, for themselves. Some REALTORS have attempted to provide this minimum level of service and claim to have been ejected from membership as a result.

In the past, CREA has taken the position that “agency” is a key component of the service that a REALTOR® provides, and seemingly continues to believe that. I believe, that CREA would contend that all REALTORS® have the freedom to choose what levels of service they might provide to a seller, and determine the fee that they will charge for that service, but that the REALTOR® should continue to be bound as an agent, owing fiduciary duties of care to the seller.

CREA has also expressed concern that removing this particular pillar does not relieve the REALTOR® from agency obligations, as a matter of law and regulation. Even if the agency component were removed from the “pillars,” provincial and federal law and regulation would still bind REALTORS®. In fact, some of the interpretations which would remain if CREA agreed to remove those in question clearly imply the existence of an agency relationship, namely articles 2 and 4. In essence, the concern seems to be that REALTORS® could find themselves offering substantially limited services, which ultimately expose them to greater risk and liability resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty.

The Bureau has taken the position that if CREA does not remove the restrictions noted above, the Commissioner of Competition will initiate an application before the Competition Tribunal, a judicial body, which has authority under Canadian law to issue monetary penalties and prohibition orders.

CREA’s Board of Directors has agreed to work with the Competition Bureau towards a settlement, which would be presented to its membership for approval.

CREA is in the process of scheduling consultations with Boards and Associations across Canada to discuss the issue further.

Only time will tell how this all unfolds but we can hope that wherever it goes, it leads us forward and results in improvements to the real estate industry, for the consumer of real estate services.

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

“With sales on the rise and listings trending down, the sales-to-active listings ratio is trending up. The seasonally adjusted ratio has risen on a monthly basis for six consecutive months. Although the ratio is rising, the market characteristic is still indicative of a buyer’s market. Increasing sales and falling listings will result in a continuing trend toward a balanced market in the coming months.”

A summary of CMHC’s forecasts for 2009 and 2010 follows.

Read the full report for Saskatoon here.
Read CMHC’s national housing 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

Planned renovations include a day care facility, a space switch between the cafeteria and the library, a reworking of the administration and student services area, a community room, an upgraded visual arts and media room and the addition of six new classrooms.

The provincial government will provide $3.75 million in funding and the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools will be responsible for the remaining $1.25 million.

E.D. Feehan High School is located at the corner of Avenue M North and Rusholme Road in the Westmount area of Saskatoon.

Janet French covered the story for the Star Phoenix here if you’re interested in ore details and a thorough overview of the planned improvements.

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.

If you live in Saskatoon we’d sure appreciate hearing your comments about your neighbourhood. Please visit our “Saskatoon Neighbourhoods” page and let us know what you love about your community.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

October’s residential resale activity trumped that of October 2008. Saskatoon REALTORS® assisted 311 home buyers with the purchase of a new home over the month. That’s up 46% from October 2008 when 213 homes were sold. Year to date, 3359 properties have sold, up 6% from 2008.

The average selling price was $274,759, down 4% from October 2008 when the average was $285,547.  The main reason for the decline was increased activity in the $250,000.00 to $275,000 range, which in turn affects the overall average price. Activity remained strong in the $300,000 to $350,000 price range.

Residential active listing inventory dipped below the 1000 mark for the first time in more than one year. The market continued to clear excess inventory that resulted from the frenzy of the 2007 and 2008 markets. Home buyers had 971 homes to choose from at the end of October, far fewer than the 1667 homes available last year at the same time. REALTORS® listed 442 homes for sale last month, down 36% from 2008 when 694 homes were listed for sale.

REALTORS® sold $85,450,000 dollars of real estate in October, up 40% from 2008 when $60,821,000 of residential real estate changed hands. Year to date, $933,652,000 worth of real estate has sold. This is well on target to again exceed one billion dollars of real estate sold this year.

Real estate sales in areas around Saskatoon remained strong as well with 90 homes selling, up 8% from 2008 when 56 homes were sold. The average selling price was $251,319, up 23% from 2008 when it was $203,956. REALTORS® listed 198 properties in areas around Saskatoon, up 8% from 2008 when 183 properties were listed in the same time period.

Market activity is expected to be similar for the remainder of the 2009. Consumer confidence remains strong in the local economy, when coupled with low interest rates, contribute to 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.

If you live in Saskatoon we’d sure appreciate hearing your comments about your neighbourhood. Please visit our “Saskatoon Neighbourhoods” page and let us know what you love about your community.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings of houses and condos slowed again and dropped to their lowest level since the first week of 2009 to finish at just sixty-three, making this one of just four weeks this year in which unit sales exceeded new listings. This week’s total listings fell by nine properties compared to last week, and dropped thirty-one homes compared to the same week last year.

Naturally, the number of residential listings offered for sale on the Saskatoon multiple listing service declined again, falling fifty-three properties from last week to nine-hundred and forty-three, reaching their lowest level since early May of 2008. On a year-over-year basis, total active residential listings are down six hundred and sixty-one properties. The existing inventory of single-family detached houses sits at five hundred and fifty-six, down from nine hundred and seventy-nine for the same week last year. Active condo listings are presently at three hundred and twenty-one, off from five hundred and twenty-three at this time last year.

The number of cancelled or withdrawn listings fell to just sixteen this week, and seven of those rose from the ashes (hey, it’s Halloween) to reappear as a new listing on the Saskatoon MLS system. Approximately zero home buyers were fooled by the move. An additional forty-eight sellers adjusted their asking price in hopes of attracting a buyer.

It was another huge week for condominiums which accounted for thirty-six of the eighty-three reported sales. Perhaps more significant, ten of those condos showed sale prices from $75,000 to $99,900. Consequently, the average selling price of a Saskatoon home took a beating falling to just $254,912, its lowest level since June of this year and about thirty-five thousand dollars below the same week a year ago. The six-week average slipped four thousand dollars from a week before to $276,159, and finished roughly sixteen thousand dollars below last year’s number. The four-week median price slid six thousand dollars from last week to $264,000, off nine thousand dollars from the same week in 2008.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Lower sale prices brought the average underbid down from $9,807 last week to $9,043. The average discount as a percentage of the asking price in those instances where the home traded below list price was about 3.4%, just a slight change from last week when it was 3.6%. The percentage of home sellers who struck a deal within ten thousand dollars of the asking price increased again to seventy-seven percent, while the percentage that closed within five thousand dollars fell from fifty-three to forty-one percent.

Thanks again for reading. Have a spooky day!

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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.

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

Release: Immediate
Date: Friday October 30, 2009
Contact: Mike Lobsinger, Chief Executive Officer Lake Placid Group of Companies

(Saskatoon, SK, Canada): Michael E. Lobsinger, Chief Executive Officer of the Lake Placid Group of Companies, announced today that Lake Placid is in a situation where delays have arisen around the deadline with the City of Saskatoon. For this, Lake Placid sincerely apologizes.

International finance is a complex and time consuming process. Lake Placid continues to work with its international financier to provide the $200 Million credit facility that is required for the development of Saskatoon River Landing.

All development and legislative approvals were not obtained until May 2009. Pursuant to the lender’s written financial commitment, the financing is still expected to arrive but will not do so in time to meet the October 30 deadline. The City of Saskatoon will be advised that although Lake Placid is not in a position to meet today’s deadline, it may be in that position very shortly.

It is particularly unfortunate that circumstances beyond the control of Lake Placid have resulted in missing this important deadline. Lake Placid has spent two years and over $7 Million planning this premier development which includes payment to the City of Saskatoon of over $700,000. Lake Placid has received significant interest from the local community for the purchase of residential properties, and from commercial tenants and hoteliers. They will be contacted directly.

Lake Placid would like to thank all of the supporters of this project including the City of Saskatoon administration, City Council and the Mayor’s office for their significant support in the progress made to date. In addition, Lake Placid would like to thank the Premier of Saskatchewan and the appropriate Ministers who worked diligently to pass the necessary amendments to the Condominium Properties Act and the Land Titles Act which allow for the development of mixed use projects in Saskatchewan. Without those legislative amendments which were passed in May 2009, this project could not have proceeded.

Lake Placid believes in the future of the great city of Saskatoon and has every intention of developing there in the near future. The company thanks everyone for their patience and understanding in this matter.

A British Columbia businessman, Rexy Smith and his daughter, Tabitha will operate the Uptown Market and offer a full selection of fresh produce, meats, eggs, dairy products and other essentials. They hope to have the 5,200 square foot grocery store open by Christmas of this year.

Saskatoon’s Central Business District has been without a grocery store since late 2004 when the Extra Foods on 3rd Avenue North closed its doors.

Learn more about the Central Business District.

If you live in Saskatoon we’d sure appreciate hearing your comments about your neighbourhood. Please visit our “Saskatoon neighbourhoods” page and let us know what you love about your community.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings of Saskatoon homes also bounced slightly higher to seventy-two units, up from sixty-four listings last week, but lower than the same week last year when ninety-five properties were offered for sale.

Active listings in the residential category declined again. The change was small, but enough to pull the total inventory of Saskatoon MLS listings below the one thousand unit threshold for the first time in sixteen months. The week closed showing nine hundred and ninety-six active listings, ten fewer than last week, and well off of the sixteen hundred and ninety homes that were available last year at this time. The total active inventory consists of five hundred and eighty-three single-family homes and three hundred and forty-eight condos. Last year at this time, those two numbers stood at one thousand and fifty, and five hundred and thirty-three respectively.

Just twenty-one listings were cancelled or withdrawn from the market this week and fifteen of those re-appeared amongst the “new listings” for another kick, most at a new price. An additional thirty-nine home sellers adjusted the asking price on their home hoping to bag a buyer before winter sets in and demand softens further.

Twenty-seven of this week’s sixty-six sales were condos, and consequently, the average selling price of a Saskatoon home took a huge dip falling to its lowest point since June. The average finished at just $265,032, thirty-eight thousand dollars behind last week, and fifteen thousand dollars lower than it was at this time last year. The six-week average fell fifty-four hundred dollars on a week-over-week basis to close at $280,016, about fifteen thousand five hundred dollars off of last year’s number. The four-week median fell to $270,000, down from $272,900 last week, and falling below last year’s number by five thousand dollars.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

In spite of lower prices overall, Saskatoon home sellers did reasonably well when it came to negotiations with eight sales at list price, six sales above asking price, and the remaining fifty-two properties averaging a discount of just $9,807, down from last week in real dollars, but a higher discount as a percentage of the asking price. The average discount where sales occurred below asking price was 3.6%, up from 3.2% last week. However, a significantly lower median led to many more sales within $5,000 of the asking price as this category accounts for fifty-three percent of all sales, up from thirty-five percent last week, and about as high as I ever recall it being.

Aggressive price growth in Canada’s largest markets continues to push the average price of a Canadian home higher, and in fact, they’re now at record levels of $331,602. Toronto’s average selling price is up $40,000 year-over-year to $406,877 and Vancouver’s prices have increased $75,000 over the same period. I suppose we can consider ourselves lucky to have what appears to be some measure of house price stability in Saskatoon, but it’s hard not to feel that something is going terribly wrong in Canadian housing and I can’t help but wonder how we’ll be impacted if a house of cards begins to fall in our nation’s largest markets. This week, the media was buzzing with talk of a Canadian real estate bubble. Here are a handful of the stories that ran this week.

Bank of Canada monitors real estate surge
CMHC bubble is 100% Canadian made
Why Canada’s housing bubble will burst
CMHC’s growth fuels worries over new risks
Carney urges prudence in housing market

Expect to hear more of this talk in the weeks ahead as our government attempts to throw some cool water on a housing market that appears to be out of control.

Personally, I think prices are reaching their peak across the nation and that some cracks are beginning to show. In Saskatoon, where prices have remained flat for most of 2009, there is probably little hope for sellers that better times than these are on the horizon. If you want to sell your home, you should probably put that goal at the top of your priority list to complete before the end of 2009. This little real estate boom could end as abruptly as it started earlier this year. That’s what my gut is telling me today.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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.

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

This commercial for Cullman Liquidation Center came to me by way of Tim Ayres, a Realtor from Sooke British Columbia who wrote in his Twitter stream, “This is easily the best real estate commercial in history.” Thanks for the laugh Tim!

Saskatoon MLS listings reached their 2009 peak during the week of May 18-22 when total inventory climbed to 1,528 properties and have been declining fairly consistently since that time.

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.

If you live in Saskatoon we’d sure appreciate hearing your comments about your neighbourhood. Please visit our “Saskatoon Neighbourhoods” page and let us know what you love about your community.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Here is a list of things we should all be looking after over the next couple of weeks to keep our Saskatoon homes in tip-top shape, and our families safe living in them.

If I’ve missed something that you feel should be added to my list please leave a comment below.

On the inside

• Consider having your home heating system professionally serviced to ensure reliability and efficient operation through the long winter.
• Change the furnace filter, ensure that the furnace chimney is sound and free from obstructions and that the furnace has an adequate source of fresh air.
• If you don’t already have one, consider a humidity control system for your home to keep air comfortable.
• Consider a programmable thermostat to save on energy costs and maintain maximum comfort.
• Tune up the hot water system, perhaps even draining and refilling the tank to remove sediment build up from the bottom of the tank.
• Have a professional inspect and clean fireplaces and chimneys for safety and efficiency.
• Test and service your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure that they are operational. Replace the batteries, whether they need it or not.
• Add weather-stripping as required on the inside of doors and windows.
• Purchase and install window insulation kits to cover inefficient windows from the inside to prevent heat loss and ice build up on windows.
• Give ceiling fans a quick cleaning, oil the motors, and reverse the direction in which they turn to push warm air back down into the room.
• Remove window-mounted air conditioners and cover central air conditioning units to keep the snow off of them.
• Clean your clothes dryer vent from the inside and the outside of the house to remove potential obstructions.
• With several additional hours of daily darkness just around the corner consider installing night lighting in hallways especially around staircases and hallways.

On the outside

• Have a walk around the roof of your home to look for loose, damaged or missing roofing material. Inspect for cracks in the flashing seals around skylights, chimneys and vent stacks.
• While you’re up there, give the gutters a quick cleaning to make sure that water can run freely in the spring. Clogged gutters can allow water to back up against the house causing damage to roofing material and siding. Worse, excess water will fall over the outside edge of the gutter reaching the ground near your foundation wall. Finally, excess build-up in gutters produces stress to the systems supporting the gutter and can reduce life.
• Make sure that the extensions on your downspouts are carrying water four to five feet from the foundation wall and that the grading of soil surrounding the house is diverting the flow of water away from the foundation wall, and not towards it.
• Terminate the water source to all exterior taps and sprinklers and open all exterior valves to ensure proper and complete drainage.
• Underground sprinkler systems should be blown out to prevent water lingering below ground in the system’s pipes from freezing.
• Tidy up your landscaping by pruning shrubs and tree branches away from the house, particularly those that might encroach on the roof, gable venting or overhead utility lines.
• Clear the areas around foundation walls to prevent build up of debris and leafy material, which can trap moisture at the foundation wall.
• Inspect foundation walls and exterior vents to ensure that you’re not providing easy access to rodents seeking a warm place to stay over the winter.
• Apply exterior caulking around windows and doors as needed. Even a small opening can allow a lot of heat to escape from your home. Homes with wood siding and windows that protrude past the siding material should only be caulked on the sides and at the top. Some opening beneath the sill provides an area through which moisture can escape from exterior walls.
• Seal cracks in the exterior finish of buildings and cracks in flat concrete surfaces to prevent water penetration that can freeze and expand causing further damage.
• Lubricate hinges including those on overhead garage doors.
• Tune up electric garage door openers.
• It’s time to put the summer toys away and crack out the winter goodies. You know, ice scrapers, shovels, snow blowers, etc.
• Remove fuel from gas powered yard care equipment and run the equipment continuously until all remaining fuel has been burned.
• If you do the Christmas lights thing, they’ll be a lot more fun to install in October than December.

Wishing you all a wonderful and short winter.

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 Saskatoon houses and condos slowed even more falling to just sixty-four homes, down from one hundred and six last week, and fifty percent lower than the ninety-six properties listed during the same week last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Active listings in the residential category fell by thirty-six properties over the course of the week to finish at one thousand and six, down six hundred and sixty-seven units from the same time in 2008 and getting close to breaking into triple digit territory for the first time in eighteen months. While unit sales were strong in comparison to the number of new listings introduced to the inventory, the decline was pushed along by thirty properties that expired without a sale, so we may see a number of those reintroduced to the Saskatoon MLS system next week. In any case, it looks nearly certain that the inventory level will find its bottom somewhere below the thousand unit mark, and nearly as certain that it will get there by the beginning of November as an additional ninety-five properties have a scheduled expiry date between now and then. As of today, there are five hundred and eighty-four detached houses and three hundred and fifty-three condominiums displaying an active status.

Just twenty-two listings were canceled or withdrawn from the market this week and nearly half of those came back around disguised as a new listing. Is anybody fooled by this game? Forty-four home sellers adjusted their asking price.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home took another step higher this week, gaining over ten thousand dollars from the previous week to finish at $303,111, the second highest weekly average for 2009. The six-week average moved up just one hundred and thirty dollars to $285,424, about fifteen thousand dollars shy of last year’s number when it sat at $300,599. The four-week median price spiked higher, gaining ten thousand dollars on the previous week to reach $272,900, up from $270,000 for the same week in 2008.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average underbid on the Saskatoon homes that sold for less than the asking price fell slightly from $10,626 to $10,059, but the average discount as a percentage of the asking price was almost unchanged at 3.2%. Seventy-one percent of home buyers paid within ten thousand dollars of the asking price, on par with the week before. Fewer large discount sales caused the $10,001-$15,000 category to grow to nineteen percent from fourteen percent last week.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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.

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

The chart below demonstrates potential savings derived from the installation of a high-efficiency furnace, based on average home owner’s use of natural gas and electricity in Saskatchewan. Electrical costs are based on continuous operation of the furnace motor during the winter months and utility rates that were effective on June 1, 2009. Actual savings may vary based on a number of variables.

In addition to the energy savings that you’ll see through the use of a more efficient heating appliance there are several other opportunities for savings when you upgrade.

•    There is no provincial sales tax payable on “ENERGY STAR” qualified furnaces and boilers.
•    You could qualify for an upgrade grant of up to $1,420 through the Saskatchewan EnerGuide for Houses Retrofit Grant Program.
•    According to ENERGY STAR, a programmable thermostat can further reduce energy consumption costs by as much as $180 a year, plus you can qualify for an additional $15 rebate with the Programmable Thermostat Rebate from SaskEnergy.
•    The ENERGY STAR Loan Program provides financing at prime plus 2% on approved credit. *
•    The cost of your new high-efficiency furnace qualifies for the Federal Home Renovation Tax Credit and could increase your saving by hundreds of dollars.

If all of that isn’t enough to convince you, here’s an added bonus; a high-efficiency heating system will increase the resale value of your home and make it more attractive to a growing number of energy conscious home buyers.

* Visit the SaskEnergy website for full details including terms and conditions.

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.

If you live in Saskatoon we’d sure appreciate hearing your comments about your neighbourhood. Please visit our “Saskatoon Neighbourhoods” page and let us know what you love about your community.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

“In order to ensure we continue our economic growth and to build a more diverse, dynamic and cosmopolitan community, both in Saskatoon and right across the province, we need to make sure that more people have more education and more skills training and that way they can help to sustain the growth. The Saskatoon Trades and Skills Centre Inc. will help meet the demand for skilled tradespeople in the province and expand Saskatchewan’s economic opportunities,”  said Rob Norris, minister of advanced education, employment and labour.

Star Phoenix story here.Learn more about the Mount Royal area of Saskatoon.
Visit the Saskatoon Trades and Skills Centre website.

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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New house prices took their greatest tumble in Edmonton where the cost to build a new home fell 11.4% from last year. Victoria followed at -10%. Vancouver was down 7.8%. Calgary was off by 6.3%.  St. John’s led on the plus side showing increases of 7.5%.

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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

According to a story in today’s Star Phoenix a public elementary school was originally planned to start construction in April of 2010 with completion and opening slated for the fall of 2011. Originally, the public school board planned to build a joint facility with a City of Saskatoon recreational centre. The Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools has decided that they would like their school to be part of the same complex. A report to the public school board says delays could push completion beyond January 2013 while construction costs escalate at a projected $600,000 to $750,000 per year.

Public school students living in Willowgrove are currently taken by bus to Forest Grove School, while students in the catholic system are driven to Saint Volodymyr School.

Learn more about the Willowgrove area here.

Update: From the October 20, 2009 Star Phoenix – Willowgrove school project waits for gavernment funding.

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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings of Saskatoon houses and condominiums were up just two properties on a week-over-week basis to one hundred and six, but well below the one hundred and fifty-one properties listed during the same period in 2008.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

Active listings in the residential category grew slightly and finished the week at one thousand and forty units, up eleven properties from the previous week, but well below the sixteen hundred and eighty-eight properties available at this time last year. The trend towards lower inventory levels certainly has slowed. The number of Saskatoon homes for sale fell by nearly five hundred properties over June, July and August. We’re only down about forty units in the past five weeks.

Thirty-seven home sellers canceled or withdrew listings this past week. Twenty of those quickly changed their minds and signed a new listing agreement. An additional sixty-one sellers adjusted their asking price in hopes of attracting a buyer before the city freezes up.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home climbed again for the third consecutive week reaching $292,637. The six-week average moved in the same direction but grew far more modestly climbing to $285,295, a gain of about nineteen hundred dollars over last week, but well below the $301,380 recorded during the same week in 2008. A nineteen thousand dollar week-over-week tumble for the weekly median sale price pushed the four-week median in the opposite direction to just $263,000, its lowest level since the week of April 24, and just sixty-five hundred dollars behind last year’s number of $269,500.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average underbid on the Saskatoon homes that sold for less than the asking price grew from $9,236 last week to $10,626, but the higher asking prices this week meant that the average discount actually fell from 3.1% last week to 3% this week.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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.

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

“Since bottoming out in April 2009, prices have stabilized,” says Norm Fisher, Sales Manager for Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate Ltd. “Average buyer discounts in Q3 ranged from 3.5 to 4.5 per cent, showing buyers and sellers are making reasonable negotiations.”

Inventory is at 58 per cent of last year’s levels so homes are moving quickly. “Unit sales are through the roof,” Fisher says. “We’re hitting near record unit sales for most housing types. Overall unit sales in Q3 were up nearly 50 per cent over the same period last year.” Lower priced condos are moving faster than in Q2, but unit sales for condos in the $300,000 to $350,000 range are down year-over-year.

Although some single family homes priced below $350,000 are generating multiple offers, buyers are typically cautious. “The current Saskatoon market isn’t like the boom period of 2007,” he says. “We had a rally in the first quarter of 2008, then the market flattened out.”

Selling for an average of $291,000 in Q3, west side detached bungalows are the only housing type that showed a year-over-year price increase. Overall, lower priced homes have depreciated less than more expensive homes.

Overall Canada’s housing market appears to be on the road to recovery, but despite the strength of the market in the third quarter, giving the appearance of a surge in real estate activity, Royal LePage cautioned that sales are actually lagging approximately one month behind the typical seasonal pattern in year-to-date analysis.

“The economic recession interrupted the flow of the real estate cycle but it is essentially back on track,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive officer, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “There is the illusion of a boom in the market, but in fact what we are experiencing is the end of a normal, short-term correction. Once housing supply returns to normal levels, we believe the economy will support low pricing growth into 2010.”

Click the image for a larger view.

Royal LePage House Price Survey chart for Canada

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

Saskatoon single-family home sales continued to show remarkable strength gaining twenty-nine percent over the same month last year to finish September at two hundred and thirty-six units, twelve percent lower than August. Active house listings continued to slide, falling to just six hundred properties, eight percent lower than the close of August, thirty-three percent lower than this year’s peak of eight hundred and ninety, and forty-three percent lower than last September when 1,053 Saskatoon houses were for sale. Technically, while inventory continued to fall in real numbers, seasonally slower sales moved the months of inventory slightly higher from 2.4 months to 2.5 months.

The average sale price of a house slipped about thirty-four hundred dollars on a month-over-month basis to finish September at $303,028, more than sixteen thousand dollars lower than the same month last year and more than thirty-six thousand dollars off of the peak price of $339,548 which was reached in June of 2008. The median sale price recovered to $295,000, up nearly five thousand dollars from last month and matching last September’s number. The three-month average gained four hundred dollars over the previous month and finished just over eight thousand dollars lower than it was in September of 2008.

The average price per square foot of a Saskatoon house returned to July levels as it slid back to $246 after an August bump pushed it higher to its peak for 2009 of $252. That’s roughly eight percent lower than it was in September of last year, and about thirteen percent off of the peak of $280 that we saw in May of last year.

If house sales were “strong,” condo sales were through the roof. The number of Saskatoon condos that sold last month doubled over the same month last year reaching ninety-seven units, approximately thirteen percent below the month of August when one hundred and twelve condos traded hands. The inventory of condos fell eight percent from last month, finishing at three hundred and fifty-one properties, down thirty-two percent from the same time last year. “Months of inventory” grew slightly more in the condo category than single-family detached houses did, rising to 3.6 months from 3.4 months at the close of August.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon condominium lost some of its August gains falling roughly five thousand dollars to $226,271, sixteen thousand dollars lower than it was in September of last year. The median price fell eight thousand dollars from the month before to $217,000, twelve thousand dollars behind the same month last year. The three-month average actually took some gains to finish up about thirty-six hundred dollars from August at $225,597, about nine thousand dollars lower than it was last year at this time.

The average cost per square foot for a Saskatoon condo remained unchanged on a month-over-month basis at $219, roughly ten percent lower than September of 2008 when it sat at $240, and about sixteen percent below the peak in May of 2008 when it reached $262.

Remember, averages and cost per square foot numbers can provide some useful insights into pricing trends but they’re not as useful when engaging in an actual transaction. If you’re buying or selling you should be seeking current information on active listings and recent sales, which are most comparable to your property in terms of location, size, features and amenities.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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 @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

Renewal has been underway in Caswell Hill since Saskatoon city council adopted a local area plan in late 2001. City planners developed the plan in cooperation with dedicated members of the community. In the years that followed, several commercial buildings saw serious facelifts and some notable residential developments have been completed in recent years. The T. Eaton Warehouse was successfully converted to luxury lofts, and phase two of that development, the SoCa Lofts is now complete and for sale.

More recently, city planners unveiled the new South Caswell Concept Plan, which will see the bus barns relocated, making way for the redevelopment of two whole city blocks. The plan calls for a number of affordable housing initiatives, some commercial space, a dog park of approximately 8,000 square feet and a 65,000 square foot neighbourhood park space.

It seems to me that some of the bigger challenges for the completion of this renewal lie within a stone’s throw of the city bus barns. When buses are no longer running in and out of this part of the area, and the South Caswell Concept Plan is complete, the few holdouts that remain will surely come along for the ride to renewal.

Congratulations to all who have contributed to the hard work of planning these improvements.

Information from the City of Saskatoon on the South Caswell Concept Plan is here.
Check out Courtney Johnson’s South Caswell Concept Plan blog here.
Caswell Hill ideas ‘brilliant’ by Janet French for the Star Phoenix here.
Check out our neighbourhood profile for Caswell Hill here.
Take a photo tour of the Caswell Hill neighbourhood here.
View homes for sale in Caswell Hill 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.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate

New listings continued to decline for a second consecutive week falling to one hundred and four homes, four fewer than last week and sixteen units behind last year’s production when agents added one hundred and twenty properties to the Saskatoon MLS system. A good number of this week’s listings were properties that expired at the end of September and were quickly relisted for another go at the market.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

After hovering in the 1,080 to 1,090 range for four consecutive weeks, month end expired listings pulled the active residential real estate listings inventory lower to finish the week at 1,029, fifty-nine properties behind last week’s total, and six hundred and fifty-one properties fewer than we had at the same time last year. Today, there are five hundred and ninety-four single-family homes for sale on the MLS and three hundred and fifty-four condos. Last year at this time there were 1,054 Saskatoon houses and five hundred nineteen Saskatoon condos for sale.

Canceled and withdrawn listings gained a little steam climbing to thirty-three units from twenty last week. Forty-two home sellers adjusted their asking price over the past week.

The average selling price of a Saskatoon home took a small upward bounce moving to $277,938, up about four thousand dollars from last week. The six-week average moved lower by about seven hundred dollars week-over-week, but was almost fifteen thousand dollars lower than it was for the same week in 2008. The four-week median slid thirty-five hundreds dollars from last week and stood just five hundred dollars higher than it was at the same time last year.

Click the image for a larger version of the graph.

The average underbid on a Saskatoon home fell roughly one thousand dollars from last week to $9,236. The percentage of sellers who were successful in selling within five thousand dollars of their list price recovered, moving from 25% last week to 41% this week, most of those gains at the expense of the $5,001-$10,000 category. Overall, five percent fewer sellers managed a deal within $10K of their asking price this week.

Map displaying the boundaries of Saskatoon real estate areas
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.

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

The real estate market in Saskatoon and surrounding area was brisk in the month of September. REALTORS® assisted 351 homebuyers in the purchase of a home, that number up 43% from September 2008 when 242 homes were sold. Year to date, residential unit sales stand at 3048, up 3% from 2008 when 2996 homes changed hands.

The average residential selling price in September was $279,457, that number down 6% from September 2008 indicating more activity in the low to middle price range homes. The average selling price has remained steady throughout 2009 beginning in January at $278,545.00 reaching a high in July of $283,871.00. The strongest sales activity remains in the $300,000 to $350,000 dollar price range.

REALTORS® sold $98,089,304.00 of residential real estate in the month of September, up 34% from 2008. Year to date dollar volume stands at $848,202,479.

Listing inventory continued to correct with fewer properties being listed and more current inventory being sold. REALTORS® placed 516 properties on the market in September that number down 37% from September 2008 when REALTORS® listed 825 homes.

Home buyers had 1097 properties to choose from at the end of September.

Sales activity in surrounding communities remained strong with 119 homes being sold, up 65% from September 2008 when 72 homes changed hands. The average selling price was $271,401, up 18% from September 2008 when the average selling price was $229,271.

Similar sales activity is expected throughout the fourth quarter of 2009. Market stability will continue to improve as inventory levels decline. The resale and new home market are being fueled by low interest rates, product availability and consumer optimism in the local economy.

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

Established in 1969 with the help of the Catholic diocese and the InnerCity Council of Churches, the Friendship Inn currently serves an average of 500 meals daily. In the past year, the organization has served more than 180,000 meals to transient, homeless and less fortunate men, women and children.

The Saskatoon Friendship Inn will expand into neighbouring Westside Clinic

The Friendship Inn is at 619 20th Street West in the Riversdale area of Saskatoon.

Star Phoenix story 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.

Follow our daily updates on Twitter @Norm_Fisher.

Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate