A year over year decline in home sales and new listings in February contributed to a declining availability of homes in the Saskatoon market. At the end of last month, there was a total of 1,588 active residential listings in Saskatoon. This represented a 4% decline from a year ago when there were 1,659 properties available. Although the number of sale transactions in February, 211, represented a 6% decline from the same month last year, strong sales in January helped the overall sales year to date to remain 1% ahead of last year. 

 

Year to date, a total of 413 residential sales have been recorded on the MLS® in the city of Saskatoon. In February, REALTORS® in Saskatoon listed a total of 1,159 residential properties, this is a 14% decline compared to last February’s number of 1,332. In February of 2016, a total of 1,410 homes were listed for sale. The number of transactions that occurred in Saskatoon was 203 units which represents an 11% increase over January of 2017. 

 

The overall dollar volume for home sales in Saskatoon was just under $70 million which is a 6% decline from last February. The year to date total volume of transactions is unchanged from last year at $139 million. Year to date sales in the region surrounding Saskatoon, which includes the cities of Warman and Martensville, totaled 122 units representing a 14% increase. The overall dollar volume for this surrounding market was just under $39.5 million for the first two months of the year, an increase of 12% compared to last year. 

 

“For the past couple of years inventory levels have hovered around 2,000 available properties.” Comments Jason Yochim, CEO with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® (SRAR) “It is definitely a positive trend to see inventory levels shrinking, this is helpful for slowing price decline.” he adds. The average sale price for a home in Saskatoon slipped 1% in February.

The Home Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark value declined only very slightly in the last 30 days to $292,800. Although this is its lowest point since February of 2012 the decline in the composite price appears to be slowing. With the exception of a couple of months in the spring of last year, the HPI composite value has been in an overall decline since August of 2016 when the value was $317,600. 

In April of 2018, the REALTORS® of Prince Albert will be joining forces with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® increasing the number of full members to nearly 700 licensed and knowledgeable REALTORS® who can provide sound market advice. This partnership will benefit home buyers and sellers through stronger government advocacy and access to tools and resources to our members to enhance their service to consumers. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are dedicated to developing professional standards and continuing education in the real estate profession. This is not the case for those who sell real estate in the province and who are not members of an association of REALTORS®.