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.