Archive for June, 2011

Vancouver-how embarassing!

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

While I am more of a bandwagon hockey fan and am always proud to support Canadian teams (although they are most often just owned by Canada and not many Canadians actually ON the teams!?) I am embarassed by some of the fans in Vancouver after last nights loss. Going to game 7 and losing is nothing to be ashamed or angered about yet out of hand fans who were fuelled by drinking and mass hysteria gave in to the mob mentality and destroyed our reputation and a lot of physical property.

Normally us Canadians are so proud to be Canadian we wear our flags on our sleeves and our backpacks and wherever else we can stick it. Unfortunately, this incident has made national and world wide news and gained a lot of attention and will forever be remembered by the world. I’m still proud to be Canadian but happy to be from Saskatoon!

Unfortunate how such a small group of angry people can destroy an image. It was nice to see others in the crowd stand up to these troublemakers at the risk of having themselves harmed but to do the right thing. 100,000 people in one square can lead to disaster when people get out of hand and what could have been a good example of how peaceful Canadians are and how proud we are of our teams instead is a worldwide embarassment.

In the age of technology I am thankful that many of these guys will be caught and charged and hopefully will face lasting consequences to their stupidity.

I look forward to meeting with some clients this weekend who are looking at buying one of the houses for sale in Saskatoon and are coming from BC to see their reaction to the events. I also have a couple of Saskatoon real estate clients who have recently sold their house in Saskatoon and moved to British Columbia so I will be sure to touch base with them to see how this has affected them.

Kari Calder
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd
Saskatoon, SK

Saskatoon Ranked # 6 but # 1 with me!

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Moneysense recently came up on the hottest real estate markets in Canada and Saskatoon was #6 on the list. Amazingly to me Regina was #2?! Those of us true Saskatoon people would always say that Saskatoon is waaaaaay better than Regina but according to this article in Moneysense they had other criteria.

Taking first place for the second year is Moncton, NB. Houses are affordable and incomes are respectable. It is about half the size of Saskatoon and growing. Average house price here was pegged at $163,000.

Second place, as mentioned, is Regina and mainly because of its economy and lowest unemployment rate in Canada. Average house price takes quite a jump to $260,000. Regina was recently made a new Asia-Pacific gateway with the opening of a large grocery warehousing and distribution hub which added 800 new jobs to the city.

Third, fourth and fifth were Fredricton, NB, Winnipeg, Man and Saint John, NB respectively. Seems like NB is the place to live!

Saskatoon comes in at number 6 and mainly because of Saskatoon’s hot economy. We received the highest mrks for growing industry and rock bottom unemployment rate. We are the world’s largest potash producer and are home the one of the world’s largest publicly traded uranium companies (Cameco) but we are also growing in the technology and health sciences sectors. Most people don’t realize the impact of Innovation Place on the city.

From there we have Gatineau, Que with its government workers, Charlottetown, PEI which now boasts more than lobster and potatoes with its gorgeous historical homes and low home prices, and 9th on the list is St. John’s, NL and offshore oil industry and a nicel processing plant near by.

This article doesn’t mean that these are the city’s that you will get the best deals. This article shows best economies and growth. Our Saskatoon house prices aren’t a deal but our economy supports the prices and with all the different sectors the Saskatoon economy should remain strong for years to come. Our Saskatoon real estate market is a busy one and right now it is a balanced market so that means it is neither a buyer’s market or a sellers market but that there is enough product for both.  

If you are looking to get into the Saskatoon real estate market I work with first time home buyers in Saskatoon, investors, clients looking to move up or looking to downsize. I work with all types of buyers and enjoy working with people to find their dream home or at least to find something suitable for their needs.

If you are looking to put your house for sale in Saskatoon let me tell you about the Century 21 difference and how I will do my best to get you top dollar for your house. Working with a Century 21 Saskatoon real estate agent who takes part in the weekly meetings and Caravan system are a huge benefit to getting your home the exposure it deserves.