Average Home Sale Price Declining

Year to date the average price of $332,700 for a home in Saskatoon represents a decline of 4% from a year ago. By comparison in the past three years, the third quarter average price was $347,165 in 2017 and $352,103 in 2016. Although much focus in real estate is on the average price, the average can be misleading and is easily skewed. A better indicator of what is happening with home prices is the Home Price Index. The Home Price Index establishes attributes for a typical single family home with a base value in 2005. From that starting point, changes in value are recorded over time to get a better sense of what is happening to pricing and where prices are trending. The value for the typical single family home in January of 2005 was $140,400. This value reached its peak in May of 2015 at $329,500. Currently this value is at $312,200 which is the highest level for 2018 and is virtually unchanged from a month earlier. The Benchmark price for a typical Townhouse style property in Saskatoon was $219,700 last month, this is the lowest point since April of 2007 when the value was $205,300. For apartment style properties, the Benchmark value of $176,200 in September was the first increase since December of 2007 when the value was at $190,600. For more information on HPI go to saskatoonrealtors.ca 

Active listings in Saskatoon continued to shrink with year over year decline of 7%. In Saskatoon at the end of September there were 1,944 active listings compared to 2,082 a year ago. Active listings are higher in the region surrounding the city which includes the cities of Martensville and Warman. At the end of September there were 1,161 available properties compared to 1,086 for the surrounding area. The decline in available properties is mostly attributable to an overall decline in new listings coming on the market. Year to date, there were 6,521 properties listed in the city of Saskatoon, a decline of 11% compared to 2017. In the month of September, there were 648 new listings in Saskatoon. By comparison in September of 2017 there were 767 new listings and 779 in 2016. “It seems that sellers who are not highly motivated are choosing to wait until conditions are more favourable to sell.” Comments Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. “Currently we are in a buyers market with elevated levels of inventory and downward trending prices for most properties.” He adds.

In the month of September there were 268 residential sales on the MLS®. This is similar to September of 2017. The total number of sales for the first three quarters of 2018 was 2,679, a 5% decline from last year. By comparison, in the first three months of 2016, there were 2,935 sales in the city of Saskatoon.

 

Residential Dollar Volume Continues to Decline

At the midway point of the year, the total dollar volume for residential MLS® sales in Saskatoon sits at $565,435,958. This is down 12% from last year and represents the lowest volume in ten years. In June of 2007 the total dollar volume for residential MLS® sales was $550,023,364. “This is a reflection of a decrease in sales volume coupled with a decrease in pricing” according to Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. Year-to-date residential MLS® sales of 1,693 homes is down 8%. Last month there were 350 MLS® home sales, an 11% decline from last June and the lowest number for June in 10 years. The median home sale price of $316,500 is at its lowest point this year, down from $330,000 in January. The Home Price Index (HPI) Value for single family residential home sales in Saskatoon continued its slow but steady increase from February and was at $315,800 at the end of June. The HPI Value for single family residential reached its highest level in May of 2015 at $331,800. The HPI measures the change in value over time for a typical single family home with a standard set of attributes. This rate of change reports similar to the Consumer Price Index and is the most accurate indicator of home pricing. The HPI value for apartment style residences has been on a steady decline since January but appears to have levelled out at $179,100. HPI value for townhouse style residences has been trending up sharply since March and was at $231,600. For more information on HPI go to saskatoonrealtors.ca .

Year-to-date, the average sale price was $333,985, a 5% decrease from the same period last year. The highest average residential sale price for June was in 2015 at $361,719. Average prices can be misleading as outlier sales can skew the average sale value one way or the other over a short period of time. This is why the median price of HPI value is a better indicator of the market.

Inventory levels continue to be elevated with 2,109 residential properties available on the MLS® in Saskatoon at the end of June. This is just slightly above the five year average for active listings which is 1,990. The sales to listing ratio remained virtually unchanged from a year ago at 40%. The sales to listing ratio is a comparison of the number of sales for a period of time to the number of new listings. This number reflects that four out of every ten homes that hit the market end up selling. In reality this percentage is likely lower as many homeowners that do not sell will cancel their current listing and relist often at a different price. This elevates the true number of listings relative to sales. Last month, the average home in Saskatoon took 47 days to sell in Saskatoon last month, unchanged from May of this year.