SEASON'S GREETINGS

The Directors, Members and Staff of the Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Our office will be closed until Monday January 3rd.

November Stats - Regina and Saskatoon
The November MLS® System statistics for Regina and Saskatoon were released this week.

The media release from the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® is here:
Saskatoon - November Stats Release

And the release from the Association of Regina REALTORS® is here:
Regina - November Stats Release

Does anyone have any comments on the market or predictions on what they think will happen in the balance of the year? We welcome your comments.

CMHC's Saskatoon REALTOR® of the Year for 2010

Kim Tyndal (r) from CMHC presents the 2010
Saskatoon REALTOR® of the Year Award to Al Didur

Congratulations to Al Didur, winner of the 2010 CMHC REALTOR® of the Year Award for Saskatoon. This award is designed to recognize a member of the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® who has made an ongoing and significant contribution to the real estate industry and to the community and Al is a very deserving winner.

ASR Government Relations Days

 (L to R: Al Didur – ASR Government Relations Chair, Bill Madder – ASR EVP, Rhonda Toth - ASR Vice President, Premier Brad Wall, Gary Busch – ASR President, David Salvatore – CREA Director of External Relations)

ASR Government Relations Days a Big Success

Government Relations Days held November 16th and 17th in Regina was a very successful event with over 50 ASR members in attendance.

The event kicked off with the popular “Media Panel” session consisting of Stefani Langenegger from CBC Saskatchewan, Angela Hall from the Regina Leader Post and Gerry Klein from the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. The panel was ably moderated by Local media personality John Gormley who also served as our keynote speaker and gave a very compelling presentation entitled “Update on the Saskatchewan Advantage: Canada’s Greatest Province Continues the Momentum”.

Workshops on our current issues of Affordable Housing and Tax Competitiveness followed and David Salvatore from CREA’s Federal Affairs Department did a presentation on “Effective Advocacy”. David and former Finance Minister Harry Van Mulligen did a role play of an MLA meeting to give attendees an idea of how to present our issues and how an MLA might respond.

The MLA Reception was held on Tuesday evening and we had our best attendance ever with over 30 MLAs joining the group. Among those in attendance were several Cabinet Ministers from the Government side and some prominent critics from the Opposition. The highlight of the night was when Premier Wall took some time from his extremely hectic schedule to join us.

On Wednesday morning we had a quick briefing on our Tax Competitiveness proposal from Mr. Jack Vicq, FCA then everyone went off to their meetings with MLAs. We had meetings scheduled with 25 MLAs and have received 19 MLA visit reports so far. Based on these reports it appears our messages were well received.

Several of our members attended Question Period on Wednesday afternoon and the ASR was welcomed to the Legislature by NDP House Leader Len Taylor and also by Municipal Affairs Minister Darryl Hickie.

Remembrance Day

The Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS office will be closed November 11th to observe Remembrance Day. Please be sure to take a moment to remember those who gave their lives for our country.

We will be open for regular business hours on Friday November 12th at 8:30 am.

                                                                                     

October Stats

October Stats - Regina and Saskatoon


The October MLS® System statistics for Regina and Saskatoon were released this week.


The media release from the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® is here:

Saskatoon - October Stats Release


And the release from the Association of Regina REALTORS® is here:

Regina - October Stats Update

Does anyone have any comments on the market or predictions on what they think will happen in the balance of the year? We welcome your comments.

ASR Partners With Other Business Groups to Propose Tax Reforms

A Change Today For Your Tomorrow – Tax Plan Unveiled

The most comprehensive review of Saskatchewan’s tax environment since 1965 was released today with seven recommendations to create a more competitive tax environment in Saskatchewan.  The report outlines reforms that are staged for implementation over several years giving the Saskatchewan government time to implement each recommendation.

The report was funded by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan, Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS®, Certified General Accountants of Saskatchewan and the Certified Management Accountants of Saskatchewan. The organizations contracted the Canada West Foundation (the Foundation) and its Saskatchewan Director Mr. Jack Vicq, FCA, to create a report outlining the current situation and to identify reforms to enhance the Province’s tax policy.

The plan outlines reforms for the Education Property Tax, Municipal Property Tax, Personal Income Tax, Financial Corporate Capital Tax and taxation of Business Investment. Each reform would enhance the tax environment in Saskatchewan.

For more details on upcoming events, to request more information, or read the full Canada West Foundation report please visit the website at http://www.sasktaxplan.ca/
The ASR is very proud to have participated in this project and feel that it has great potential for the province. We welcome your comments below or on the website.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS office is closed today. Happy Thanksgiving from the Directors, Members and Staff.

September Stats - Regina and Saskatoon

The September MLS® System statistics for Regina and Saskatoon were released this week.

The media release from the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® is here:

Saskatoon - September Stats Release

and the Association of Regina REALTORS® release is here:

Regina - September Stats Release

Does anyone have any comments on the market or predictions on what they think will happen in the balance of 2010?

RBC Economics Housing Affordability Study

The latest Housing Affordability Index from RBC Economics was released yesterday and  can be found here: RBC Affordability Index.

Affordability eroded a bit further in Saskatchewan in the second quarter of 2010 for all categories except townhouse condos which were slightly more affordable. While the overall decrease in affordability caused some concern, the report went on to say "we expect that a strong rebound in the provincial economy this year and next will likely help ease such tensions".

If you have any comments on the RBC report or on the Saskatchewan real estate market in general, feel free let us know.

Breaking the mould

Great article by Mike Holmes with some common sense advice about mould: Breaking the mould

August Market Stats

The August MLS® System statistics for Regina and Saskatoon were released this week.
 
The media release from the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® is here:
August Stats Release - Saskatoon
and the Association of Regina REALTORS® release is here:
August Stats Release - Regina

Does anyone have any comments on the market or predictions on what they think will happen in the balance of 2010?

CBC News - Aug 16

This story on the Saskatchewan real estate market ran on the CBC news this week:

CBC News - Video on Sask real estate market - Aug 16

Any comments??

Home Starts Up in Saskatoon and Regina

CMHC's latest stats on housing starts are out and Saskatoon and Regina's numbers are well above those of last year. Here is a link to an article in today's Star-Phoenix: Star-Phoenix - housing starts - Aug 11, 2010
CMHC's August 10 media release is here: CMHC media release - housing starts - July, 2010.

July Statistics

The MLS® System statistics for Regina and Saskatoon were released this week. Both markets are softening from high levels of activity earlier in the year and it looks like a balanced market for the remainder of 2010.

The media release from the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS® is here: SRAR - July Stats
and the Association of Regina REALTORS® release is here: ARR - July Stats.

Moose Jaw Hammers for Habitat - Supplier Recognition

CREA Revises Resale Housing Forecast

OTTAWA – July 30, 2010 – The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) revised its forecast downward for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations, and elevated its average price forecast. See the full release here:
CREA Revises Resale Housing Forecast.

The predictions for Saskatchewan are for very minor reductions in the number of sales in 2010 and 2011 and modest increases in average selling prices for both years.

Any comments?

Happy Canada Day!

The Directors, Members, and Staff of the Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS® wish everyone a Happy Canada Day! Our office will be closed today but open tomorrow for regular business hours.

GO RIDERS !!!!!

Great Saskatoon Promo Video

Here is a link to a great video showing all the great things to see and do in Saskatoon:
Saskatoon Tourism Video

Send us a link to something similar for your favorite Saskatchewan City or town and we will post it!

Funny Real Estate Ads

One of the things we would like to do with this blog is have some fun.
Ellen has found some funny real estate ads and has a semi-regular feature on her show.
Here is a link to see what we mean: funny real estate ads on Ellen

Those are really good but we think there are some equally good ones here in Saskatchewan. So, to find the funniest real estate ad in Saskatchewan we are starting a contest. Send us your entry and what we deem the funniest each month will receive a copy of Stephen Jagger's great new book "Sociable". Since we are almost to the end of June we will award the first prize at the end of July. Your entries can be sent via the "comments" function on this blog or by e-mail to: info@saskatchewanrealestate.com.

Lets have some fun!

ASR Donates to Habitat for Humanity

                                      

Joanne Kerr (r), ASR Quality of Life Committee Chair, is shown presenting a cheque for $1600 to Barb Cox-Lloyd, Executive Director of the Saskatoon Chapter of Habitat for Humanity at the current building site on Avenue V. The donation represents the proceeds from a silent auction at the Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS® Annual Symposium held recently in Saskatoon.

Quality of Life is an initiative embraced by REALTORS® throughout Saskatchewan with the goal of improving communities for all citizens. For more information about this initiative and the involvment of Saskatchewan REALTORS®, go to: Quality of Life Saskatchewan

Welcome

Welcome to the official blog of the Association of Saskatchewan REALTORS® (ASR). The mission of the ASR is to "Promote the professional interests of Saskatchewan REALTORS®".

This blog will provide information to our members and the public on current real estate issues and will promote discussion on anything related to real estate. Check out the news feeds in the right-hand column for info from the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Globe and Mail.

Your comments are welcomed but please be civil - we will remove any posts with profanity, threats, discriminatory comments or anything deemed inappropriate.

Please enjoy the blog and let us know if you have any questions, comments, or topics you would like us to cover.