Buyers Market Continues

Conditions remain ideal for those in search of a new home in Saskatoon. There was a total of 1,967 active listings at the end of October in Saskatoon plus an additional 1,022 available residential properties in the region outside Saskatoon. This is an increase of almost 12% in active residential listings compared to the same point last year. With upcoming mortgage rule changes in the new year, relatively low interest rates and more available homes, this is an ideal time for buyers to tie up that purchase. The sales to listing ratio for Saskatoon was just over 40% in Saskatoon in October. This means that for every 10 homes that were listed, four were successfully sold. The number of sales for October in Saskatoon was 287 units. Although this was an 8% decline compared to October 2016, it represented an increase of 10% over Septembers sales of 262. Year to date sales for Saskatoon a the end of last month were 3,030 units which is a 6.7% decrease for the same period last year. Year to date a total of 8,069 home were placed on the market in Saskatoon, down slightly from 8,217 the previous year. “I expect that there may be a slight spike in sales as the year winds down” comments Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®, “this would be due to recently introduced mortgage qualification rules for conventional buyers plus a sense of upward pressure on interest rates.” The federal government continues to address issues with overheated markets in Canadas two largest cities. These rule changes however affect local real estate markets much differently.

The average days on market for a home in Saskatoon was 54 days which is unchanged from September and slightly higher when compared to October of 2016 where it took an average of 50 days to sell. Not surprising, with higher inventory levels, and declines in sales, the average selling price for a home in Saskatoon continues to decrease, with a year over year decline of 3.2% to $331,889. The Medan price however remained unchanged at $330,000.  The MLS® Composite Home Price Index (HPI) Benchmark Price increased by 5.1% to $328,600. The Composite HPI measures the rate of change in a benchmark price for a typical home and is the most accurate indicator of pricing direction in a market. This increase would suggest that in spite of a decline in the average home price, the trend is moving upward for home prices.