Summer is almost officially here, and the weather is getting hotter in Saskatoon! Can we expect the summer real estate market to stay hot as well?
Our Summer 2021 Real Estate Market Preview is here! We are going to review the stats from the past month, and share our predictions for the summer season, and what you need to know if you plan to buy or sell.
Let’s take a look at the stats from May 2021...
Home sales are very strong
In May, there were 576 home sales which represents an increase in sales of +77% compared to May 2020 where we only saw 326 sales.
This is the third month in a row where sales have been over 500 homes - there were 570 sales in March, 550 in April and now 576 in May. This is an unusually high volume of consistent sales. The big question is, will this be able to continue?
If we try to determine the possible underlying cause for these consistently strong sales volumes, we could use the theory that COVID-19 has left many people with more disposable income right now as they aren’t spending money on things like vacations and going out. People have also been at home more, and have become more aware of some of the limitations to their existing spaces, like a lack of home office space, or recreation space. More people have the money available right now to consider upgrading their space to something that solves those problems.
This means that when things start to return to normal, with more vaccinations, and the relaxing of all of the restrictions, and people start spending what they used to spend, or more, on vacations and going out, this could result in less funds available to spend on property.
This leads to our prediction that this strong market will likely continue over the next couple of summer months while COVID-19 restrictions are still in effect, but as things relax in the fall we could see a softening of the market.
Inventories are going up
2021 started with extremely low listing Inventories, but we have seen an increasing number of listings being added to the MLS each month. There are currently approximately 1544 active listings on the MLS. There were 1015 new listings posted in May which is up +34% compared to May 2020, where we only saw 755 new listings.
When you consider the supply and demand equation, the more listings there are available in the market, the more competition there is for your property. If the number of listings continues to rise, this will eventually slow down the sellers market a bit. But we don’t expect to see this until closer to the fall.
Home prices surge
We’ve also seen a consistent surge in home prices over the last several months. In January, we started the year with an average sales price of $348,352, then $353,542 in February, $362,222 in March, $372,532 in April, and then $386,578 in May. May’s average sales price is an increase of almost +7.6% MTD compared to May 2020.
Part of the reason for this surge in average home prices is the significant increase in sales in homes over $750,000. In May, there were 6 homes sold that were worth over a million dollars. This is an unusually high volume of sales in that price category for one month. This increase in high worth property sales, does influence the average sales price overall.
So...after reviewing the stats from May, and our predictions for the rest of the summer, what does this mean for you as a buyer or seller?
What does this mean for you?
As a seller, it means that you should consider getting your home on the market sooner rather than later, as right now is still an IDEAL time to list your home in Saskatoon.
We are optimistic that this hot market will likely continue over the next few summer months, but once things start returning to normal we predict it might be hard for these current market conditions to continue. So to reiterate NOW is the time to get your home listed! Don’t wait!
For buyers, we are seeing more and more listings being posted to the MLS. This means there continues to be more selection for you to choose from when searching for your dream home. We can help guide you in the offer process to ensure you have the best chance of getting the home you want, when you find it.
As always, if you would like any information on buying or selling your home, or about the real estate market in general in Saskatoon, don’t hesitate to contact either of us.
Thanks again and see you next month!
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