Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
Saskatoon real estate market update for November 2016
The November 2016 Saskatoon real estate market sales increased from 2015 where 281 houses for sale in Saskatoon sold. This year we saw 243 houses in Saskatoon selling for the month of November.
The average home price in Saskatoon did see a slight decrease from last year with the average house price at $350,212 for 2016. Last year was at $361,051 in November.
Currently, the average time to sell a house in Saskatoon has increased in November from 49 days to 51 days.
By the end of November, homebuyers in Saskatoon had 1,686 homes to choose from with 682 of those being condos for sale in Saskatoon.
Listing inventory in Saskatoon has slightly decreased with 665 new house listings in Saskatoon in 2016 while in 2015 we saw 631 new units placed on the market.
If you are looking for a qualified and experienced Saskatoon real estate agent, contact me for more information or to set up a meeting to discuss the current market and all your real estate needs.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Fusion
The Trump effect on Canadian real estate part 2
To read part 1, click here.
One of the biggest areas felt by Canadian’s will be in the vacation property market. Americans are the largest foreign buyers of Canadian vacation property. In large part due to the affordability of the recreational properties based on the strength of the U.S. dollar. A decrease in the currency (due to uncertainty) could mean a widespread withdrawal from the market and would have a lasting effect. Prior to the recession in 2008/09, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were popular destinations for Americans. Post financial collapse cottages and lake front properties saw a decrease in price as much as 60%. That market is still recovering almost a decade later.
Trade also plays an important part, much more so to Canada and will have the greatest effect on the economy. With Trump’s promise to “tear up NAFTA” and introducing tariffs on Chinese imported goods, this could hinder our slow growing economy. Trade is much more important to Canada than it is to the United States. They can afford to become detached with 10 times the population than Canada however it would cause significant damage to our economy. Lay-offs in areas that are heavy in export and trade would be inevitable and stall our economic growth as a whole.
Only time will tell what the true effects of a Trump government will have on Canada. We will soon begin to see what issues were a ploy to attract votes during the campaign and what issues he will actually push to become legislated.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon real estate agent
Century 21 Fusion
Kari@saskatoonrealestate.net
The Trump effect on Canadian real estate
It’s been over a week that the U.S has voted their 45th president as Donald J. Trump. With the results of the vote there has been a wide range of emotion and it’s clearer than ever that there is a strong divide throughout the country along with global uncertainty. While Trump has been outspoken about immigration and building a wall to keep out it’s southern neighbors, what will his win mean for Canada; it’s friendly, socialist, northern neighbors. And more importantly, what will it mean for our real estate market?
Analysts have predicted that the U.S. Federal Reserve would gradually increase interest rates to reflect the country’s slow growing economy. Trump’s win however, may have altered this strategy. The problem is that his promise to deport 11 million workers (who presumably have entered the country illegally) will have a major impact on the already tight labor market. By taking that many workers out of the labor force, Trump could halt business which will be dangerous with the U.S. unemployment rate at an all time low of 4.9%. To combat the decline of businesses, the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely abandon their decision to increase rates. This will encourage consumers and businesses to borrow money and the Bank of Canada will likely follow suit. We can probably expect prolonged low interest rates in both Canada and the U.S.
There is also expected to be a boom for home sales in Canada. Many Americans have indicated that if there is a Trump victory they will be heading north to escape the Republican led government. Numerous websites have been developed to help those wishing to defect. A surge in demand for homes may become a reality and experts suggest that bigger urban centres will see the impact as the U.S. dollar has about 30% more buying power than the Canadian. Home sellers in Vancouver and other areas in B.C. shouldn’t expect a large increase largely due to the Foreign Buyer’s tax that was announced this past August.
Watch for part 2 next week.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon real estate agent
Century 21 Fusion
Saskatoon real estate market update for October 2016
The October 2016 Saskatoon real estate market sales increased from 2015 where 408 houses for sale in Saskatoon sold. This year we saw 420 houses in Saskatoon selling for the month of October.
The average home price in Saskatoon did see a slight decrease from last year with the average house price at $351,032 for 2016. Last year was at $353,663 in October.
Currently, the average time to sell a house in Saskatoon has remained the same from September at 49 days.
By the end of October, homebuyers in Saskatoon had 1,796 homes to choose from with 707 of those being condos for sale in Saskatoon.
Listing inventory in Saskatoon has slightly decreased with 756 new house listings in Saskatoon in 2016 while in 2015 we saw 767 new units placed on the market.
If you are looking for a qualified and experienced Saskatoon real estate agent, contact me for more information or to set up a meeting to discuss the current market and all your real estate needs.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Fusion
New mortgage rules; predictions
The new mortgage rules came into effect on Monday and some say it will have drastic consequences to the housing market. The new rules limit the borrowing power of many buyers, those with less than 20% down payment. Those without will have to qualify at a much higher rate before being approved insuring they have the ability to make payments at a higher interest rate. These rules were already in place for some types of mortgages, variable interest rate for example was one type where the stress test of a higher interest rate was applied to qualify.
Some industry officials are speculating that they will see little change to the market with these new rules as buyers typically don’t spend the full amount of what banks throw at them anyways however others are saying that there will be a drastic decline in the housing market. They are predicting that the mortgage changes will set off a full correction of the market and some are even going as far as to say to avoid buying a home in the state of the current market.
It’s predicted that these new rules will effectively eliminate first time buyers from the market and the national sales price average will decrease somewhat. Where most industry leaders agree on is the market in which will suffer the most changes. The Toronto and Vancouver condo markets will see the largest impacts of these new changes. The over inflated markets will bring a correction to these two that have been spiraling out of control.
Whether or not these changes will significantly impact our Saskatoon real estate market, only time will tell. It has never been wise to purchase at your max and I often encourage buyers against this and becoming ‘house poor’. I’m interested to see what will happen with the already flooded condo market and first time home buyers though as that’s typically where they start and enter into the market.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon real estate agent
Century 21 Fusion
Saskatoon real estate update for September 2016
The September 2016 Saskatoon real estate market sales has decreased from 2015 where 482 houses for sale in Saskatoon sold. This year we saw 446 houses in Saskatoon selling for the month of September.
The average home price in Saskatoon did see an increase from last year with the average house price at $353,704 for 2016. Last year was at $334,690 in September.
Currently, the average time to sell a house in Saskatoon has decreased slightly from August’s 50 days to 49 days.
By the end of September, homebuyers in Saskatoon had 1,894 homes to choose from with 731 of those being condos for sale in Saskatoon.
Listing inventory in Saskatoon has decreased with 782 new house listings in Saskatoon in 2016 while in 2015 we saw 974 new units placed on the market.
If you are looking for a qualified and experienced Saskatoon real estate agent, contact me for more information or to set up a meeting to discuss the current market and all your real estate needs.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Fusion
Mortgage defaults are on the rise
CMHC has recently released data that insured mortgages (home purchases with less than 20% down payment) have seen a greater incidence of mortgages in arrears in Alberta and Saskatchewan as of the end of June.
In Alberta, the number of insured loans that are at least 90 days late in payment was 1,487 in June (up from 978 in June 2015). Saskatchewan’s numbers increased from 392 in June 2015 to 529 in June 2016.
CMHC reported that despite these increases, the national delinquency rate actually dropped in BC, Ontario, and Quebec. Close to 1,000 fewer delinquencies were reported and translated to 8,386 at the end of June.
CMHC holds over 2.6 million loans in Canada and translates to $523 billion in mortgage insurance.
I’ve definitely seen an increase this year of listings that are owned by a bank in an effort to recuperate some of their lost money. I’ve also been asked to represent a number of banks on foreclosures this year and have seen my number of foreclosure listings double or even triple from previous years.
If you are interested in finding a foreclosure in Saskatoon, please contact me and I’d be glad to assist you.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon real estate agent
Century 21 Fusion
If You Have Older Lonely Women (Or Men!) In Your Life I Urge You To Ask Them This:
Have you ever sent or been tempted to send money to anyone that you ‘met’ over the internet?
If they have sent money they will likely lie as somewhere deep down they knew that this wasn’t real. They are so lonely that they will do anything to take away the pain, even be in an imaginary relationship. Which is why it is called a “lonely heart scam” I suppose.
It used to be parents worried about their kids picking up sketchy people at the bar but now it is the kids who need to be worried about their lonely parents picking up sketchy people on the internet.
I can’t believe I am blogging about this but it is very real and a client of mine has lost in the hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars over the past handful of years to a man she knew and trusted. In her mind anyways, she knew and trusted him. He called her on the phone many times when life was rough so he must be one of the good ones, right? He wouldn’t lie, right? The money she loaned him WILL be returned, right?
Wrong. The policewoman we spoke to shut down any glimmer of hope (from watching too many TV shows I admit I had a teeny tiny glimmer of hope) that anything could be recovered. She also advised us that the scam happens a LOT and my client is not alone in what she did. Except she is as there is no support for someone like my client. We got sent on our way with instructions to put together a police report in writing. Not the police’s fault but there is nothing that can be done.
Oh, and I have to back this up as she is no longer a ‘client’ per se as she is now no longer able to purchase her final home in Saskatoon. Yep, she lost it all. Those of you who know me though know I wouldn’t abandon someone in that state. Luckily I am not an old widower as I would likely fall for this scam. Kidding, I have a lot of street smarts but it can happen to anyone. Most of us judge and wonder ‘who could be so stupid??’ to fall for this? The victims ask themselves the same thing AFTER they have lost their retirements and sometimes their homes and most will admit they have a gut feeling. The stories these people come up with are quite incredible, they provide documents to support the lie and sound legit to those who want to believe.
It makes me sick that people are getting away with this and that it can happen to someone you know and care about.
So please, ask the people in your life no matter how awkward it is. Be sure to bring these scams up and bring them up often as the scam artists are smart and switch them up. It is their JOB to be smart and to scour the internet for people who are easy targets. Ask your mom, grandma, aunts, great-aunts, uncles etc etc as you would be amazed who falls for this. Older women tend to trust easily and follow with their hearts not their heads. Many can’t fathom that these ‘men’ they are talking to are from places like Nigeria or Ghana. They think they are talking to someone who is in Canada or the US.
It may seem ridiculous but as a REALTOR® in Saskatoon I have had my eyes opened to what lengths people will go to in trying to steal and launder money. I have had some of my Saskatoon houses for sale used for the purpose of stealing money from unsuspecting would-be tenants by online scams. DO NOT, EVER send money to someone you have not met in the flesh no matter how much you have spoken to them on the phone or via facebook, email, etc. Loneliness is a human condition and social media is the perfect forum for these people to find them and possibly prey on someone you love.
We have to take care of our elders in these times so, no matter how awkward it is, have the conversation and make sure they aren’t at risk. If you think they are sending someone money then you need to take them to the police station, talk to a lawyer, the bank, etc. In this situation even the bank manager had a bad feeling about it but was unable to convince the victim that she should not send the money.
Please share this post and remind others to look out for lonely people in their lives. If we can prevent one person from becoming homeless or losing everything due to a lonely or broken heart it is worth the awkward questions.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon real estate agent
Century 21 Fusion
