Saskatchewan

Cost

A geothermal system usually costs about $2,500 per ton of capacity. A typical home uses a 3-ton unit costing roughly $7,500. That initial cost is nearly twice the price of a regular heat pump system that includes air conditioning. The cost of drilling, however, can be considerable; drilling can cost in excess of $30,000, depending on the terrain and other local factors. Systems that require drilling vertically deep into the ground will cost much more than systems where the loops are in a horizontal fashion and closer to the surface. Despite these initial costs, a geothermal system saves enough on utility bills that the investment is often recouped in five to ten years.

In summary, geothermal systems heat and cool homes using sub-surface soil as an exchange medium. Geothermal systems are more expensive to install than conventional furnaces, but their operating costs are significantly lower.

Benefits of Geothermal Energy:

• energy efficiency. GHPs require 25% to 50% less electricity than conventional heating and cooling systems. According to the EPA, geothermal heat pumps can reduce energy consumption - and corresponding emissions - up to 44%, compared to air-source heat pumps, and up to 72%, compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment.
• design flexibility. Geothermal heat pump systems can be installed in both new and retrofit construction. Equipment rooms can be scaled down in size because the hardware requires less space than is needed by conventional HVAC systems. GHP systems also provide excellent "zone" space conditioning, which allows different parts of a home to be heated or cooled to different temperatures.
• durability. Since GHP systems have relatively few moving parts and the parts are sheltered inside a building, the systems are durable and reliable. The underground piping often carries warranties of 25 to 50 years, and the heat pumps can last more than 20 years. The components are easily accessible, which helps ensure that the required maintenance is performed on a timely basis.
• noise reduction. As they have no outside condensing units (such as those in air conditioners), there's no noise outside the home. Geothermal heat pumps are so quiet inside of a house that users may not be aware they are operating.

This is the January 2010 update for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. We are in the middle of the prairies but moving along nicely from 2009 thru 2010

Check out my website at www.saskatoon4sale.com for more info or assistance in this market.

January Home Sale Numbers Soften Slightly From January 2009

Saskatoon REALTORS® assisted 179 homebuyers with the purchase of a home. This number was down 16% from January 2009 when 212 homes exchanged hands. The average residential selling price was $270,191.00 down 3% from January 2009 having an average residential selling price of $ 278,939.00. The average selling price declined slightly due to the increased number of sales in the $ 250,000.00 to $275,000.00 price range. This price range had the highest number of unit sales in January.

The average residential price is derived by taking the month's dollar volume of homes sold and dividing that number by the unit sales number. The percentage of change should not be used unilaterally as prices vary from area to area. Consumers wishing an accurate estimate of value for their home should contact a REALTOR® member to do a comparative market analysis.

Inventory levels continued to correct in the month of January with fewer listings being taken. REALTORS® listed 394 residential properties this number down 23% from January 2009 when 512 properties were listed for sale. Homebuyers had 736 homes to select from at the end of January as compared to January 2009 when 1156 homes were available for sale. January's number is up slightly from December 2009 when 703 properties were available for purchase.

The residential dollar volume of $48,364,000.00 was down 18% due to lower sales numbers and increased activity in the mid price range of homes. Dollar volume is expected to increase significantly as the year 2010 progresses.

The real estate market in areas surrounding Saskatoon was very active. Unit sales were up 17% in January with 34 units selling as compared to 29 units selling in January 2009. The average selling price was $214,976.00 up 5% from January 2009 when the average selling price was $204,166.00. January dollar volume was $7,309,200.00 up 23% from January 2009.

The real estate market is expected to remain steady for the first quarter of this year. Days to sell in January were 38 days on average within the city limits and 59 days to sell being the average in areas surrounding the City of Saskatoon. Consumer confidence remains high, interest rates are low, all contributing to a healthy real estate market.

Harry H. Janzen, CAE

Executive Officer

Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®

Name someone who has not been touched by it. We all have, in one form or another.

I have watched as a lady who was once beautiful and engaging turned into a lonely soul who sat in a chair all day and had to have constant nursing care, well before her time.

I have seen a man who once was a good hockey player and then a professional football player, who then went into coaching, suddenly find his memory leaving him and ending up in a home where the days were empty, and the future was as empty.

There are 18,000 people in Saskatchewan who are suffering from dementia. In the next 30 years, more than 30,000 people will have the disease, which will account for 2.3 per cent of the population, and 65 per cent of the people in Saskatchewan with dementia will be women.

It is the cruelest and saddest of diseases because it is capable of affecting the mind before the body follows. Memories are obliterated as the disease works it way through the mind. Personalities can change dramatically, and do. People who were once kind and gentle can turn violent at the blink of an eye.

It is the cruelest and saddest of diseases because the effects of it reach out and engulf family and friends in the torture of having to watch this happen, knowing there is no cure, knowing that the worst is yet to come. Some affected by the disease can live for years unable to communicate, just sitting there, staring off into space, not knowing that that is their son or daughter sitting next to them.

Much awareness has been made of Alzheimer’s Disease. Much research has gone into finding a cure. But, still, no cure, and innocent people who once lived joyous and fruitful lives remained locked in a vacuum of sheer despair and haunting loneliness.

January is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time when extra attention is paid to the disease and the endless search for a cure. It’s a time to raise funds.

The 31st annual Forget Me Not Walk will take Sunday, January 31st at the Field House in Regina. It will go from 1 until 3 p.m.

All you have to do to participate in this worthwhile and badly needed event is show up, put on your running shoes, make a donation, and go for a walk. Every dollar collected from this fund-raiser moves researchers closer and closer to finding a cure for this hideous disease. And how important is that? You have likely seen, or surely heard of what this disease is capable of doing to people.

The folks at Exit Realty Fusion, Regina’s fastest growing real estate company, care enough Alzheimer’s Disease that they will be spending the weekend fund-raising and raising awareness. At their open houses on Saturday, they will be handing out Forget Me Not flower seeds and taking donations. On Sunday, they’ll be represented in the Forget Me Not Walk at the Field House.

They hope to see you there and they hope to see a cure found for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Bank of Canada won't raise interest rates anytime soon

January 11, 2010

The Bank of Canada won't raise interest rates to cool the country's hot housing market, preferring to leave any tinkering to the country's Finance Minister.

"Some observers - those who see a housing bubble forming - have said that since low interest rates have stimulated housing market activity, the Bank should now raise interest rates to dampen that activity," deputy governor Timothy Lane wrote in a speech delivered by an adviser on his behalf in Edmonton. "But that poses a problem."

Existing-home sales are up 73 per cent year-over-year, while prices have climbed nearly 20 per cent as buyers take advantage of historically low interest rates to finance purchases.

Those who fear a bubble worry that many people are taking advantage of cheap money to buy homes they wouldn't be able to afford once rates rise, leading ultimately to a crash in prices.

Mr. Lane said the bank understands the concern, but it uses its lending rate to keep inflation in check for the whole economy and the housing market is "only one of several factors" that influence inflation.

Other sectors could be adversely affected if the rate jumped before the broader economy was ready, he said.

"If the Bank were to raise interest rates to cool the housing market now - when inflation is expected to remain below target for the next year and a half - we would, in essence, be dousing the entire Canadian economy with cold water just as it emerges from recession."

Instead, he said, the government could increase capital requirements for lending institutions, adjust loan-to-value ratios and change the terms and conditions required to obtain mandatory mortgage insurance.

"These instruments can be targeted to risks to the entire financial system that stem from particular markets or institutions," he said. "Ultimately, it is the Minister of Finance who is responsible for the sound stewardship of the financial system."

In an end-of-year interview with CTV, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the government would consider raising the minimum down payment from 5 per cent "to a higher figure" and reducing the amortization period of 35 years to "something less."

But the Minister stressed that the government has not yet made that decision.

"If there is, in the future, evidence of a residential real estate bubble, the tools we have are the tools we've used before, relating to insured mortgages, lending standards, amortization periods and down payments, which is what we acted on in the summer of 2008," Mr. Flaherty said in a late-December interview with The Globe and Mail.

In the summer, the government said it would no longer insure zero-down-payment mortgages or mortgages with an amortization period of more than 35 years.