Hot weather and summer holidays brought a slight cooling to Saskatoon and region’s housing market, as sales and total dollar volume fell by 9.8 and 9.4 per cent respectively from last July.Multiple Listing Service®(MLS) sales totaled 481, down from 533, while listings rose a marginal 0.4 per cent to 1,140. Dollar volume fell to $154.7 million from last year’s $170.7 million, reported the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®(SRAR).“Typically people think summer will always be busy, but spring is the busiest market,” said SRAR CEO Jason Yochim. “It tapers off a bit in summer. Winter weather can be brutal, and people take advantage of summer when it’s here.”Still, year-to-date numbers remain up over 2018. Sales rose 4.4 percent to 2,968 from 2,843, while dollar volume is up 2.8 percent to $964.7 million from $938.7 million. Listings so far this year are down 2.2 percent, to 7,724 from 7,900; and well down from 2017’s 8,692.In the city of Saskatoon, July sales were exactly on par with last year’s 390 transactions and well up from 310 in 2017. Dollar volume fell 1.7 percent to $129.4 million, while listings rose 5.5 percent to 748 from 709. Year-to-date, and largely due to a strong spring market, the city’s dollar volume is up six percent to $739 million from $696.4 million last year. Sales increased seven percent to 2,228 from 2,081 and listings fell three percent to 4,952 from 5,116. Active listings in Saskatoon are down 5.7 percent to 1,932 from 2,048 last year, while the region’s listings are down 0.7 percent to 1,213 from 1,221. In July, the city’s sales-to-listings ratio reached 52 percent, which is considered a balanced market.“Inventory levels are still declining, and that’s a good sign,” Yochim said. “The slight decline over the last three years helps us maintain a balanced market.”The city’s average price slipped 1.7 percent to $331,780 in July. Year-to-date the price has fallen one percent to $331,649.“It’s good to see in the city that while the average price dropped in 2017 and 2018, we’re very close to those values, so it’s leveled a bit,” Yochim said. “Overall, it’s positive; it’s stable. We’ve seen some good growth in Saskatoon in the last quarter. Our sales numbers year-to-date are the highest in three years.”The surrounding region saw less-robust interest from buyers. July sales dropped nearly 40 percent to 69 sales from last year’s 114, and dollar volume fell 35 percent to $21.5 million from $33 million. Listings were down 3.3 percent to 291 from 301.However, the region’s average sales price rose 7.5 percent to $311,998 in July, up from last year’s $290,322. To date, the price is down 5.2 percent to $294,389.Jason Yochim, Chief Executive Officer,
Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®
