9. November 2009 by Kari Calder.

For the first time since 1976 the Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the best in the West! Mosaic Stadium in Regina saw a sold out crowd of 30945 and hosted the game against the Calgary Stampeders, who we dominated 30-14.

Some fans, my mom and dad from Estevan included, have been waiting 33 years for a victory like this. The Riders still have one more victory to attain before moving on to the Grey Cup in Calgary on November 29, 2009.

It is a big thing for the team, for the city of Regina, for the province of Saskatchewan and for the fans to be the host of the Western final. So now it is between the Stampeders and the Eskimos to see who will be up against the Riders in the Western Final.

If there is one thing about Saskatchewan I can say it is we are all proud to be from Saskatchewan and we have fans right across the country. Yes, it gets stupidly cold here in the winter in Saskatchewan, but besides the weather our province is home to a lot of great things and I think any football player in the CFL will say that Saskatchewan fans are the most loyal! But, my opinion is a bit biased

Go Riders!

Kari Calder
Real Estate Specialist
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd Saskatoon

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27. July 2009 by Kari Calder.

There is a new petition circling around the Saskatchewan real estate community from a Regina Century 21 agent, but I am wholeheartedly against this petition regarding taking personal information when buying or selling a house in Saskatoon. The realtor in Regina has some good points about the collection and use of confidential information, but as long as the realtor who is taking the information complies with the regulations, the original and only copies will be sent to Ottawa and we, nor our offices, will not have any of the client’s private information on hand.

I have experienced clients attempting to launder money through real estate in Saskatoon and this new legislation has put them off from purchasing a house for sale in Saskatoon, for the time being, until they find a way around it. Even when the market was starting to slow I was getting calls from people who wanted to buy a house in Saskatoon to ‘flip’ but I was suspicious as they were looking for people they could pay cash to fix it up. Chances are, money was being laundered this way as the sellers would turn around and sell it and not necessarily make much (if anything) but their money would have been ‘cleaned’ so to speak.

Unfortunately, this does not prevent criminals from buying a house in Saskatoon privately and then turning around and putting the house for sale in Saskatoon privately, but buyers (and private sellers in Saskatoon) need to be aware that they may be helping aid in terrorism and crime.

I have had to provide my ID when buying RRSP’s, and I certainly wasn’t spending close to what a person spends when buying a house for sale in Saskatoon, or anywhere for that matter!

I am realtor in Saskatoon who is okay with taking photo ID from people who are buying a house in Saskatoon or selling a house in Saskatoon with me as their Saskatoon realtor as I would rather not deal with people who may be aiding in terrorism. Unfortunately, there are realtors in Saskatoon, and every other city, who are less concerned with ethics and more concerned with making money, but even they are forced to comply now and take ID from every client.

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

Posted in Canada Real Estate, International Real Estate, News, Canda Real Estate News, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Sellers, News, Current Market, Buyers, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

27. July 2009 by Kari Calder.

For the first half of 2009 the housing starts in Saskatoon have fallen by a whopping 78%. We are down to 342 new houses in Saskatoon from 1574 new houses in Saskatoon started in the first 6 months of 2008. Multiple family starts dropped an astounding 93% from 754 to only 53 in the first 6 months this year while single family homes dropped from 820 in 2008 to 289 in 2009.

The decline has to do with many factors, but the overall economic downturn is a big part of that but our slowing of new housing in Saskatoon also has a lot to do with following one of the busiest years in history. Many builders were also trying to get rid of last year’s inventory as well as there are still many vacant new homes in Saskatoon. This helps the existing homes for sale in Saskatoon as the inventory of new homes in Saskatoon is starting to clean up.

Houses for sale in Saskatoon have been reduced in number in June with many more sold signs popping up. June did see more housing starts than in earlier months with 116 single family starts, but still down 28% from last June. Regina has also seen a decrease in new housing while Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, and Yorkton saw increases in houses being built.

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

Posted in Canada Real Estate, International Real Estate, News, Canda Real Estate News, Saskatoon News, Saskatchewan Real Estate, News, Current Market, Buyers, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

27. June 2009 by Kari Calder.

I am a Saskatoon realtor ® who is all for technology and utilizing the latest tools with technology. I recently signed up for a Twitter account. I am still not quite sure how I plan to use my Twitter account to better my Saskatoon Real Estate career…perhaps updates on new listings, recent sales, etc.

I do know that I do not plan to use my Twitter while sitting in a bathtub full of water while my laptop is plugged into the wall. Unfortunately, there are those out there who do Twitter whilst tubbing…which is definitely odd no matter what, but definitely not a good idea while your laptop is not running just on battery power.

Recently, in Romania a 17 year old girl had something of a marathon Tweet session while in the tub. Her battery died so she proceeded to plug her laptop into the wall. Unfortunately, GFI plugs must not be mandatory there like they are in North America, as she was discovered dead this past weekend, after dropping her laptop in the tub. Whether she had wet hands when she plugged it in or it slipped while she was in the tub is unclear, but what is clear is that bathtubs and laptops don’t mix.

It is unfortunate that such a death occurred, although I have a feeling we will be reading about this one in the popular bathroom series, best selling The Darwin Awards…which is safe to read in the tub as long as it is in paperback or hardcover, not online.

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

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27. June 2009 by Kari Calder.

With not even half of 2009 behind us Saskjobs.ca has already had more than 3 million people visit, looking for jobs in Saskatchewan. In 2008 the website saw 3 million visitors at the 267 day mark, whereas in 2009 it has hit 3 million users in just 158 days.

Jobs in Saskatchewan seem to have everyone interested across the country. Visits from Ontario are up an impressive 262%, BC up 198%, and Alberta up 101%. From outside of Canada visits are up by 87%.

Saskatchewan jobs are enticing people from all over the world and more people are looking to the province as a place of opportunity, especially with the global economy as it is. Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris has commented on Saskatchewan having recorded its highest employment levels and its 38th consecutive month of employment growth in May of 2009.

I have spoken with business owners in Saskatoon and also people who work in HR for some of the larger Saskatoon based companies and they have also mentioned the increase in applications from other provinces.

Saskatchewan also has the highest levels of optimism among small to medium sized businesses in Canada.

As a Saskatoon Realtor ® I also get random calls from people from all over the country and also in the US looking for houses for sale in Saskatoon and looking for jobs in Saskatoon. Driving around I see many more Ontario license plates out front of houses for sale in Saskatoon as myself and other Saskatoon realtors are helping out of province people buy houses for sale in Saskatoon.

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

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22. June 2009 by Kari Calder.

As opposed to in the past when brain drain was a very common occurrence with nurses in Saskatchewan, recent studies of graduates are now showing that degree-earning nurses in Saskatchewan are getting jobs that they are happy with and staying in Saskatchewan. Lorna Butler, Dean of the College of Nursing at the U of S states that “We are graduating nurses who are loyal to the province and happy to serve the people of Saskatchewan” in a news release on Tuesday.

The Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan (NEPS) is a program that gathers information from former students each year as well as those who graduated 2 and 5 years ago. The survey shows that 98.5% of graduates are employed 5 years after graduating and 85% receive job offers right before or right after graduating and 93.1% of 4-year degree students and 83.8% of accelerated degree grads stay in Saskatchewan after graduation from nursing college. Saskatchewan nursing graduates expressed 90.8%satisfaction with both their education and nursing as a career.

Even with all of the locally educated nurses staying in the province Saskatchewan still requires nurses from other countries such as the Phillipines. I have been lucky enough to help a couple of nurses from the Phillipines buy a house for sale in Saskatoon and hope to help more nurses from the Phillipines buy houses for sale in Saskatoon.

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

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22. June 2009 by Kari Calder.

Average house prices in Saskatchewan were up 4% in May thanks to increases in 4 Saskatchewan cities. The average house price in Sask is now $242,829. While the average home price in Saskatoon is down 7% from last May to $279, 477 this year, the average price of a house for sale in Regina is up 12% to $263, 424.

The other 3 Saskatchewan communities that are posting record average prices are Yorkton, Swift Current, and Prince Albert.

The Saskatoon real estate market has seen stabilizing prices with listings down and sales up and it is expected that sales will remain steady.

President of CREA, Regina broker Dale Ripplinger, says that sales activity is closer to the pre-recession peak than the trough hit in January. Several things are helping buyers purchase houses for sale in Saskatoon such as improved consumer confidence, low interest rates, and better affordability.

If you are looking to buy a house for sale in Saskatoon call your local Saskatoon realtor ® Kari Calder as I can help you with purchasing any house for sale in Saskatoon, whether it be a private sale or a Saskatoon MLS property.

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

Posted in Canada Real Estate, International Real Estate, News, Canda Real Estate News, Saskatchewan News, Saskatchewan, News, Current Market, Saskatchewan Real Estate, Saskatoon Real Estate | No Comments »

18. June 2009 by Kari Calder.

The Saskatoon Health Region was forced to cancel 91 tests this week with a total of 167 patient scans cancelled thus far. As the world’s supply of radioisotopes is continuing to face a shortage, so will our health region. The shutdown of the Chalk River, Ontario reactor is the cause of the shortage. The shutdown is expected to last another 3 months at least and up to an entire year.

The Saskatoon Health Region received only 4 generators of radioactive isotopes this week, which is a small fraction compared to the usual 17.5 generators per week.

This shortage is forcing Canada to seek out deals with other isotope suppliers in South Africa and Australia. Luckily, Canada stepped up to the plate when the Petten reactor in the Netherlands was down and provided a significant amount of additional isotopes. There are isotope producing reactors in Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, Argentina and Australia.

The nuclear reactor in Chalk River was shut down earlier this week after it started leaking radioactive heavy water. This particular reactor produces 80% of the isotopes for Canada’s needs and 40% of the world’s need for isotopes comes from Chalk River.

Isotopes produced here help 20 million people in 80 countries each year, but it is 52 years old and it is showing its age being the oldest reactor in the world.

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

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14. April 2009 by Kari Calder.

January saw US house prices rise by 1.7% compared with December, 2008. Over the past year US house prices have been down 6.3% and down 9.6% from the peak in April 2006 and in December the year-over-year decline was 8.8%.

There have been some stronger sales in some markets in the beginning of this year which is contributing to the increase.

Of course a turnaround in the US house price cannot yet be determined as there must be several consecutive months of increase to call it a turnaround.

Led by the pacific side of the US with a 21.1% decrease house prices were down in all 9 regions of the country last year. The smallest decline was the 0.4% drop in the West South Central (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana)

I can’t help but wonder if some of this increase has to do with Saskatchewan real estate savvy buyers who have been buying properties in the US. Many Canadians have been going to the US in the past year to purchase real estate with the equity they have gained in their Saskatoon houses.

The pacific states still registered a decline while the other 8/9 regions showed either a constant or an increase in prices with a rise of 3.9% in the East North Central Region (Great Lakes region) and 3.6% in the South Atlantic region (Delaware to Florida).

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

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4. April 2009 by Kari Calder.

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

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