By Norm Fisher October 2, 2013 - The Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors® (SRAR) released the MLS® residential real estate statistics for September of 2013 today accompanied by the following release. Please note that many of the association’s comments touch on “year-to-date” numbers, and some are based on all sales within the board’s trading area. The charts which you see, as always, reflect activity within the city of Saskatoon on a month-to-month basis over the past several years.
The number of homes for sale took a significant jump in September with an increase of 27 percent over 2012. “Over the past month, the Saskatoon market place saw 740 properties added to the inventory for a total of 1,391 homes available to buyers,” reports Jason Yochim of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. “On average, we have seen an increase in our inventory of approximately seven to eight percent over last year.
Even though our sales activity is on par with last year’s numbers, and with an increase in listings this year, there is still a steady increase in the average sale price of approximately four percent, year to date,” said Yochim. The market surrounding Saskatoon has also experienced an increase in the number of homes listed with a year to date increase of ten percent.
The average price of a home in Saskatoon currently sits at just under $345,000. “Occasionally there is concern in the media regarding affordability of homes in the Saskatoon market. In my opinion, the market is finding ways to meet the demands for buyers looking below the average price,” says Yochim. Sales between $225,000 and $250,000 increased by four percent. To date, the number of sales between $750,000 and $1-million has eclipsed 2012′s year end total at 50 with the number of sales in excess of $1-million matching last year’s high of 16 sales. “We are fortunate as our average wage is approaching that of our neighbours to the west, however, our average sale price is $100,000 less making Saskatoon quite affordable when it comes to home ownership.”
On average it takes about 39 days for a home to sell in Saskatoon and around 60 days in the area surrounding Saskatoon. The market is still in balanced territory with a sales-to-listing ratio of 53 percent. This means that slightly more than half of the homes listed for sale are selling.
Copyright Norm Fisher Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate