Archive for the ‘Canada Real Estate’ Category

Century 21 Conexus Realty Wins 2008 #1 Firm Award!

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

During our Century 21 Awards Gala in Saskatoon on March 6, 2009, it was announced that Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd has won the #1 firm award in Canada for both production and units. This is the third year we have won this award.

Rod Spence, Vice President of Real Estate, is proud of his team of agents and employees. “As experts in the industry, our agents and employees are committed to providing professional service and knowledge to each of our customers,” says Spence. “Aside from our dedicated agents and employees, our success can be attributed to our unique partnerships,” continues Spence. “With training support from CENTURY 21 Canada, we have developed the skills needed for achieving our goals. Through our parent company Conexus Credit Union, we are able to meet all the real estate needs of our customers. From mortgages and investments to home insurance, we offer customized solutions.”

Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd currently has 7 offices and over 200 real estate agents across Saskatchewan. Century 21 Conexus in Saskatoon has shown a lot of strength across the country and world and Century 21 has a heritage of professionalism, dependability and customer understanding. Century 21 can be found world wide and is the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty

New Home Prices Rise In Saskatoon Despite The Recession

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

According to Statistics Canada the price for a new home in Saskatoon and area rose by 0.8% from December 2008 to January 2009. The federal agency’s new housing price index report also showed that from January 2008 to January 2009 that Saskatoon new home prices dropped 2.7%. Nationally new home prices dropped 0.6 % from December to January. Despite no month to month change on new home prices in Regina, the prices rose by 21.7% from January 2008 to January of this year.

Consumers do need to be aware that average house price in Saskatoon can be a bit deceiving as this reflects all areas of the city as well as all types of houses, but new home prices from area to area aren’t as drastic. Although, from Hampton Village to Willowgrove consumers may see a $30,000-$50,000 price difference favoring Willowgrove for its east side location away from the airport. So keep in mind with average house prices in Saskatoon that one month may see a lot of low priced condos sell while the following month there may be many high end homes in Saskatoon that have sold.

Read the star phoenix article here.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd

First Time Home Buyers – Now Is Your Opportunity

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

During the past year market conditions have improved vastly for first time home buyers in Saskatoon. While last year it was very hard to get into the market for first time buyers, this year it is easier to buy a house in Saskatoon as well as to get a good mortgage rate when buying a house in Saskatoon.

While last year the starting price for a 1 bedroom apartment style condo was around the $140,000 mark this year you can get into a 1 bedroom apartment style condo in Saskatoon for as little as $120,000. The house prices in Saskatoon peaked in the spring of 2008 and then went through a correction due to the high inventory of houses for sale in Saskatoon. New listings in Saskatoon went up to a record high in the summer of 2008 and due to that excess of inventory the house prices in Saskatoon dropped a bit. First time home buyers in Saskatoon should be taking advantage of the price decrease plus the incredible interest rates.

Certain communities in Saskatoon also allow for easier purchasing with first time home buyers in Saskatoon. On the west side, some of the favorable areas for first time home buyers are Mount Royal and Hudson Bay Park and on the east side of Saskatoon the favorable areas include Nutana and Avalon. These areas have more entry level homes than areas like Lakeview or Briarwood, but Nutana still has some very pricey homes due to its location close to the popular “Broadway” district and the downtown of Saskatoon.

Regina has also seen a correction in real estate prices down from 2008 and is also a favorable market for first time home buyers. A large number of houses for sale in Regina makes it a ‘buyers market’ and gives buyers the upper hand. Both Regina and Saskatoon are seeing a buyer’s market in 2009.

For more information on the Saskatoon real estate market be sure to contact me!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd

Saskatoon Current Real Estate Market – March 20, 2009

Friday, March 20th, 2009

After a long period of time when we were all wondering if the market was going to pick up it appears that the buyers who were trickling in are now out and are buying houses in Saskatoon. Last week our Saskatoon Century 21 team saw 46 listings come in and 51 deals on existing listings (so more houses in Saskatoon were bought than listed last week).

We also saw the lowest ever interest rates and low mortgage rates in Saskatoon with a 5 year closed term at 4.15%.

The MLS stats from last week (March 9-16th) saw the following:

New listings in Saskatoon: 158 (the previous week was 182)

Houses sold in Saskatoon: 56 (up to from 54 the week before)

Total active listings: 1350

Total vacant properties: 510 (up 3 from the week before)

We are seeing that the low interest rates and the fact that people are starting to understand that the economy in Saskatchewan isn’t going to implode is helping motivate buyers. It is a great time for first time home buyers in Saskatoon and for people to buy a house in Saskatoon in general. It is still very much a buyer’s market in Saskatoon but we are starting to see people with their houses for sale in Saskatoon dig their heels in a bit more and resist the low balling that buyers are trying. Some people with houses for sale in Saskatoon are still in a position where they have 2 mortgages so some houses for sale in Saskatoon are still selling for well below list price, but overall the market is gaining some momentum and hopefully the number of houses for sale in Saskatoon decreases with the amount of people buying houses in Saskatoon starting to increase. I think it will still be another year or so before we go back to a balanced real estate market in Saskatoon as there is still a lot of excess inventory, but we will get there with the amount of people looking to buy a house in Saskatoon from outside of the province and country.

If you are interested in buying or selling your home or looking for information on the Saskatoon real estate market please contact me!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd

CNN Story Highlights Saskatchewan

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Saskatchean you could say hit it big time when on March 4, CNN did a story about Saskatchewan being a “hot spot” for jobs in Canada.  As you can imagine with the current international economic crisis this was picked up by just about everyone.  Saskatchewan runs a government sponsored job website called saskjobs.ca.  The government reported that since 2 days of the CNN story going out the website had 52,000 hits including a single day record of 27,800.  The largest increase we saw on the website was from American visitors.  On one day alone there was 3,300 visitors which is 10 times the average.  87% of those total hits were new visitors.

The saskjobs.ca website currently hosts 5,800 jobs openings.  “Saskatchewan continues to be a light in a dim global economic situation”, said Rob Norries, advanced education, employment and labour minister.

The artice was written by Mallory Simon and was the most viewed story on the day of its release and second most e-mailed story.  If you are from Saskatchewan I am sure you are like me and were very proud to see our great province getting some recognition.  There are a lot of people out there that assume everywhere is suffering with the current economic situation, but Saskatchewan is staying strong.  We will not be totally immune to it but we are far better than most.

I can say as a Saskatoon real estate agent that I have been receiving more inquiries and have been working with more people from outside of Saskatchewan than ever before.  We are seeing a lot of people moving back or moving here for the first time.  People will always go where the jobs are and currently they are here in Saskatchewan!

For more information on this story visit here.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Canada Top 10 and Worst 10 Real Estate Markets

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Canada’s 10 healthiest housing markets source CREA.

It is no secret that the Canadian real estate market, like all other markets in the world, has cooled off. Fortunately these 10 Canadian real estate markets are faring better than the rest. I am very happy to say that the Saskatoon real estate market is not only in the top 10 of Canada’s healthiest real estate markets, but Saskatoon real estate is in the top 5. Ask anyone who lives in Saskatoon (well, ask anyone who isn’t the doom and gloom type) and they will tell you that we are relatively untouched by the global economic crisis and that houses for sale in Saskatoon are selling! Saskatoon real estate did take a bit of a downturn, like everywhere else, but one of the reasons for this was that investors were all pulling out at the same time which meant a big increase in houses for sale in Saskatoon.

The housing market in Saskatoon appears to be stabilizing but it will take some time to clear up all of the excess inventory. There are still many good bargains to be had with the amount of Saskatoon houses for sale but many of the desperate sellers are now out of the market and people are not buying a new house before they sell their old house.

Here is the list of the 10 healthiest real estate markets in Canada.

#1 Newfoundland and Labrador
January 2009 average price: $192, 408
Change from January 2008: up 20.1% 

#2 Halifax and Dartmouth
January 2009 average price: $242, 861
Change from January 2008: up 11.1% 

#3 Quebec City
January 2009 average price: $201, 024
Change from January 2008: up 10.8% 

#4 Regina
January 2009 average price: $213, 622
Change from January 2008: up 7.6%

#5 Saskatoon
January 2009 average price: $278, 545
Change from January 2008: up 7.4% 

#6 Saguenay
January 2009 average price: $144, 237
Change from January 2008: up 6.9% 

#7 Durham Region
January 2009 average price: $257, 095
Change from January 2008: up 5.5% 

#8 Winnipeg
January 2009 average price: $183, 873
Change from January 2008: up 5.1% 

#9 Montreal
January 2009 average price: $242, 450
Change from January 2008: up 2.2%

 #10 Ottawa
January 2009 average price: $290, 930
Change from January 2008: up 1.8% 

Canada’s 10 most struggling housing markets

Unfortunately many of our Canadian cities have seen a big drop in real estate values, luckily Saskatoon real estate is staying strong. Here is a list of the top 10 struggling Canadian housing markets.

#1 Trois-Rivieres
January 2009 average price: $122, 486
Change from January 2008: down 14.9% 

#2 Victoria
January 2009 average price: $431, 312
Change from January 2008: down 14.7% 

#3 Saint John
January 2009 average price: $142, 218
Change from January 2008: down 13.9% 

#4 Calgary
January 2009 average price: $362, 143
Change from January 2008: down 11.4% 

#5 Vancouver
January 2009 average price: $536, 162
Change from January 2008: down 8.8% 

#6 Toronto
January 2009 average price: $343, 632
Change from January 2008: down 8.2% 

#7 St. Catharines and district
January 2009 average price: $208, 026
Change from January 2008: down 6.3% 

#8 Sudbury
January 2009 average price: $197, 327
Change from January 2008: down 6.0% 

#9 Hamilton-Burlington and district
January 2009 average price: $264, 549
Change from January 2008: down 4.9% 

#10 Edmonton
January 2009 average price: $317, 049
Change from January 2008: down 4.5%

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

The Media And Real Estate

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Just when I think that most of us have a grasp on the media and how they focus on the negativity I hear another person saying ‘well I heard in the news that…’ and they trust in it 100%. It is one thing for an ‘analyst’ to sit in his office across the country looking at data, but it is another to live here and to understand all of the facets of what affects our economy. People tend to focus on what is bad in the news and choose to look over the good. If we simply listened to the news that states that housing starts are down 69% from 2008 and focused on that point we would neglect to think about the fact that the housing starts in 2008 were at an all time high. These stats don’t really give an appropriate account for our market when the last part of 2007 and 2008 have thrown our numbers off. Certain people talk about sales declining, but Saskatoon home sales have seen a great increase in market activity so far in 2009 compared to the summer and fall of 2008 Although economists in Toronto still think that house prices will drop in Saskatchewan we have to keep in mind that they are in Toronto.

Between now and 2010 it is the best time to buy a house in Saskatoon. I believe that all of our excess inventory will tighten up once 2010 hits so that will mean a more balanced Saskatoon real estate market and a more gradual increase. There are others who are even more optimistic and believe that Saskatchewan hasn’t seen anything yet in terms of market growth and house sales in Saskatoon. 

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Interest Rates-Lowest In 8 years!

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

This is a great time to lock into your mortgage with rates like these! Prime rate of 3% is a great way to stimulate the Canadian economy. Finally it is a great time to buy more house at a lower cost which is a very rare opportunity. There is definitely a window open to buyers to get into the Saskatoon real estate market right now that won’t be around forever. There are plenty of choices for home buyers in every price range of houses for sale in Saskatoon whereas even a year ago there was less than a quarter of the selection.

Just 2 years ago a buyer could not put a condition of financing on a home for sale in Saskatoon much less the condition of having a home inspection done, but that heat is over and now is a great and safe time to buy. Interest rates probably won’t go any lower! Prices of houses for sale in Saskatoon, however, will not stay soft forever. Prices seem to be stabilizing in the Saskatoon housing market now that many of the desperate sellers have sold their Saskatoon homes.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.

Saskatoon Real Estate Current Market – February 12, 2009

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Despite a slow second half of the year for Saskatoon real estate in 2008 it appears that 2009 is starting out strong. In Saskatoon we have had 331 homes sold or with solid conditional offers on them between January 1st and February 12th, 2009. This is still very much a buyer’s market and we still have over 1100 home listed MLS in Saskatoon, but people are starting to buy again after what seemed like a very long and dry time from August-December. Houses were still being sold in this period but with all of the inventory you barely noticed the sold signs. I think everyone has seen many more sold signs on Saskatoon homes in the past 2.5 months than they did for the previous 4 months.

This is a great time to get in and buy for the first time or to purchase revenue properties or to ‘move up’ if you are looking to increase the size of your home. I believe by 2010 our market will be completely balanced again as the inventory will be cleaned up. We can then expect an increase in house prices in Saskatoon, although overly optimistic people think that things will go up earlier than that with our still strong Saskatchewan economy. But that is just my opinion and feeling!

If you have any questions or comments about the Saskatoon real estate market feel free to contact me at anytime!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd

Housing Sales to Rise Again in Saskatoon

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

Saskatoon’s housing market is expected to be one of the few that comes out ahead in 2009. Re/Max representatives have been quoted as predicting Saskatoon’s real estate market will see the highest percentage increase in sales units for 2009 out of 22 major markets. Regina’s real estate market is expected to stay the same, matching this year’s sales.

Of course, Canada’s housing market performance will depend on economic performance, says Michael Polzier, of Re/Max in Ontario/Atlantic Canada. Until consumer confidence is regained, the housing market in Canada will not be remedied, but if inventory levels remain stable this could happen as early as spring. The lower interest rates also stimulate home-buying activity. The new interest rate along with the abundance of product make this a great time to buy a house in Saskatoon and other areas. The average Saskatoon home price is expected to end up at approximately $289,000, up 24% from last year and it is expected to creep up even closer to $300,000 in 2009.

Although unit sales (number of houses sold in Saskatoon) are down from 2007, they should rise slightly in 2009. High inventory levels played a role in the Saskatoon housing market. New houses in Saskatoon and speculation also affected the inventory levels, but we should see a more balanced market in 2009.

One of the reasons for the increased demand for housing in Saskatoon for 2009 is that there will be more job opportunities in Saskatoon at higher income levels which will attract people from out of town and out of province. Also, thanks to improved economy in Saskatoon, more people will return from out of province.

We won’t see vast increases in house prices in Saskatoon next year, but a more conservative increase once the inventory gets back to normal. Our Saskatoon real estate market is now stabilizing. There are some that still expect house prices dropping further in Saskatoon, but we are starting to see houses selling in Saskatoon much more quickly and there are many more sold signs in the past 2 weeks than there had been in a few months.

This is a great time to pick up a bargain in Saskatoon!

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.