The Saskatoon housing market is firmly a buyers’ market.
New figures released Tuesday by the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors (SRAR) said the sales to listing ratio in September was 34 per cent.
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A housing market is considered balanced when the ratio is between 40 and 60 per cent, and a seller’s market above that ratio.
Housing sales dropped in September by 19 per cent compared to a year ago, from 324 to 262.
Inventory remains elevated, with 2,082 properties listed, above the five year average of 1,797.
SRAR CEO Jason Yochim said inventory levels need to decline in order to balance the market.
“Ideally, it would be nice to see the number of active listings around that five year average or lower,” Yochim said in a release.
“That level of inventory would bring us closer to balanced market conditions.”
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SRAR said when Saskatoon was a strong sellers’ market with escalating price in 2007, there were just over 400 active listings through the year.
The average selling price declined by 1.4 per cent year-over-year to $347,043.
Overall sales for the first nine months of the year is down by six per cent over the same period in 2016.