The Saskatoon Apartment Operating Cost Study was created in 1999 as a service to our clients and to provide property managers, owners, the mortgage industry and our firm a base for comparison when analyzing apartment operating statements.

This report is available at a cost of $20.00 plus GST by contacting rick@realestateappraisals.com Brunsdon, Martin & Associates for further information.

The report is based on the 1999 year-end operating statements of 102 apartment blocks within Saskatoon. The survey covers 3,185 suites in apartment buildings ranging in size from 8 to 192 units. All analysis was completed on a per room and a per suite basis and was further analyzed by building size and by CMHC Zone. Discussion is made as to the range, average costs, and trends from last year, that were found under the categories shown below.

The city-wide average annual cost breakdown is as follows:

This report will help us provide more accurate and supportable appraisals on multi-family dwellings. Over the longer term the data will assist in identifying cost trends.

The most obvious trend with this year's study is a 7% to 9% increase in total expenses over last year. The owners are still doing some "catch-up" with repairs and maintenance with above average amounts spent on this item for a second year. A large increase in natural gas costs was also shown. One quarter of the responses showed the actual amount of vacancy and bad debt on their statements. Of these, the majority showed vacancy and bad debt at levels of 3% or less. There were a few in the 4% to 6% rang.