The Willows
The Willows, Saskatoon: Best for Move-Up Buyers Seeking a Golf-Course Setting
Quick Answer
The Willows is a small, low-density southwest Saskatoon community in Ward 7, built around the Willows Golf & Country Club. The City of Saskatoon's 2025 combined Neighbourhood Profiles document lists a 2025 population of 865, a 97 percent homeownership rate, and a 2024 dwelling mix of 36 percent single-family and 64 percent multi-unit housing. The 2024 median multiple of 8.30 sits far above the Saskatoon average of 3.96, which tends to make The Willows a fit for move-up and lifestyle buyers rather than first-time or budget-focused buyers.
The Willows is a small, low-density southwest Saskatoon community built around the Willows Golf & Country Club that tends to suit move-up and lifestyle buyers rather than first-time or budget-focused buyers.
The Willows at a Glance
The Willows is a low-density residential community in southwest Saskatoon, within Ward 7, built mostly between 2006 and 2016 around the Willows Golf & Country Club. It may be a strong fit for move-up buyers and lifestyle buyers who want a golf-course setting and a very high owner-occupied housing profile. It may be less suitable for buyers who want in-neighbourhood schools, a wide range of price points, or a larger selection of single-family detached homes.
According to the City of Saskatoon’s combined Neighbourhood Profiles document, The Willows had a 2025 population of 865 and a 97 percent homeownership rate. The same profile shows a 2024 dwelling mix of 36 percent single-family dwellings and 64 percent multi-unit housing, out of 374 total dwellings.
Quick Facts
| Category | The Willows Details |
|---|---|
| Area of Saskatoon | Southwest Saskatoon, within Ward 7 |
| Population | 865, City of Saskatoon Neighbourhood Profiles, 2025 |
| Homeownership Rate | 97 percent owned, 3 percent rented (2021 Census) |
| Average Household Size | 2.1 |
| Main Housing Types | Low-rise apartment condos and single-family homes |
| Dwelling Mix | 36 percent single-family, 64 percent multi-unit housing (2024) |
| Neighbourhood Area | 184.6 hectares, or 456.0 acres, at 2.0 dwelling units per hectare |
| Main Feature | Willows Golf & Country Club, a private golf course winding through the subdivision |
| Schools in the Area | None located in the neighbourhood, per the City profile |
| Nearby Amenities | SmartCentres Saskatoon (Clarence Avenue South), Stonebridge retail area |
| Transit and Road Access | No Saskatoon Transit route identified serving the neighbourhood directly; access via Clarence Avenue South, Lorne Avenue, and Circle Drive |
| Buyer Fit | Move-up buyers, lifestyle buyers, and buyers prioritizing a golf-course setting over walkable schools or retail |
The City profile includes time-sensitive real estate sales data showing average sale prices by property type in The Willows. These figures should be treated as historical context, not a current pricing guarantee.
Where Is The Willows in Saskatoon?
The Willows sits in the far southwest corner of Saskatoon, within Municipal Ward 7. Wikipedia describes the neighbourhood as bounded by a CN Rail line and the former Cartwright Street to the north, Clarence Avenue to the east, and Lorne Avenue to the west, with Circle Drive (Saskatchewan Highway 16) just to the north of the rail line.
The land was annexed by the City in 2003, and residential construction began in 2004, after the Willows Golf & Country Club had already operated for more than a decade. According to Wikipedia, the development became the city’s first golf-course community.
The neighbourhood is part of the Nutana Suburban Development Area. Its road network follows a court-style layout that winds around the golf course rather than a conventional grid, which Wikipedia attributes in part to the course design predating the residential streets.
What Is The Willows Known For?
The Willows is known for being built around its golf course rather than the other way around. The 36-hole Willows Golf & Country Club winds through the subdivision, and homes are positioned along fairways and around the course’s water features. This is the defining characteristic of the neighbourhood and the main reason it is different from other southwest Saskatoon communities.
The neighbourhood is also known for low density and a very high homeownership rate. The City’s 2021 Census data shows 97 percent of households owned their home, with only 3 percent renting, a tenure profile far more concentrated toward ownership than most Saskatoon neighbourhoods.
The Willows is a small community by population. At 865 residents across 184.6 hectares, it has one of the lowest dwelling-density figures among Saskatoon’s residential neighbourhoods, at 2.0 dwelling units per hectare according to the City profile.
Who Is The Willows a Good Fit For?
The Willows tends to fit move-up buyers and lifestyle buyers who want a golf-course setting, low density, and a strongly owner-occupied housing profile. The City’s housing data shows almost no rental housing in the neighbourhood, which is consistent with a community built primarily for long-term homeowners rather than renters or short-term buyers.
The neighbourhood’s housing mix leans toward multi-unit housing at 64 percent of the 2024 dwelling count, with single-family homes making up the remaining 36 percent. Buyers should confirm directly what “multi-unit” means for a specific listing, since this category can include condos, townhomes, or other attached forms, and the mix may not match assumptions based on the neighbourhood’s golf-course reputation.
The City profile states that no schools are located in the neighbourhood. Families with school-aged children should plan around busing or attendance in a neighbouring area such as Stonebridge, and should confirm current boundaries and transportation directly with Saskatoon Public Schools or Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools before buying.
The Willows may be a better fit for buyers who are not relying on walkable in-neighbourhood schools or a large local retail base, and who are comfortable with the trade-off of a smaller, more singular community built around one recreational amenity.
Schools And Childcare
The City of Saskatoon’s neighbourhood profile for The Willows states plainly that no schools are located in the neighbourhood. Enrolment-by-school data, where it exists for other neighbourhoods, is blank for The Willows.
The nearest schools are in surrounding areas. Chief Whitecap School, a Saskatoon Public Schools facility, and St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic School, a Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools facility, both opened in 2017 in the neighbouring Stonebridge community as a joint-use schools project. Families should confirm current attendance boundaries, busing eligibility, and registration requirements directly with Saskatoon Public Schools or Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, since neither school’s boundary was independently confirmed to include The Willows as part of this draft.
Parks And Outdoor Space
The City profile’s park space figures for The Willows show no recorded total park area or population-per-park-area figure, consistent with the neighbourhood having no City-operated public park listed inside its boundary. The dominant green space in the area is the privately operated Willows Golf & Country Club, a 36-hole course that winds through the subdivision, which is not public park space and requires membership or paid access to use.
Buyers who prioritize public parks, playgrounds, or City-maintained green space within walking distance should treat this as a meaningful gap and confirm what is available in immediately adjacent neighbourhoods before deciding the location fits their needs.
Housing Types And Price Reality
The Willows had 374 total dwellings as of the City’s 2024 dwelling unit count, split 36 percent single-family and 64 percent multi-unit housing. The City’s age-of-dwelling data shows the housing stock is concentrated in two construction windows: 46 percent of homes built from 2006 to 2010 and 37 percent from 2011 to 2016, with smaller shares before and after.
The City’s 2024 real estate sales data recorded activity in only one tracked property category that year: 14 low-rise apartment condo sales at an average price of $783,843. No sales were recorded that year in the condo townhouse, high-rise apartment condo, semi-detached, semi-detached-two-titles, or single-family dwelling categories. This is a small sample, and buyers should review current comparable sales rather than relying on a single year’s average.
Housing affordability data in the same City profile shows a 2024 median multiple of 8.30 for The Willows, compared with 3.96 for Saskatoon overall. The City profile rates a median multiple of 3.0 or under as affordable, which places The Willows well outside that range and well above the citywide average.
If you are comparing these figures to what you have saved, what you actually need in cash to buy in Saskatoon is a useful next read.
Buying in The Willows
The Willows is worth considering if you want a low-density, golf-course setting with a strongly owner-occupied housing profile and are not relying on in-neighbourhood schools or retail. The limited number of recorded annual sales means buyers should expect fewer direct comparables than in larger neighbourhoods, and should work closely with current listings rather than historical averages.
Best Fit for Buyers Who Want:
- A golf-course setting with the Willows Golf & Country Club running through the subdivision
- Low density and a quiet, low-traffic residential feel
- A strongly owner-occupied community with minimal rental housing
- Newer construction, with most homes built between 2006 and 2016
May Not Be the Best Fit for Buyers Who Need:
- In-neighbourhood schools or walkable school options
- A wide range of price points, given the 2024 median multiple of 8.30
- A large local retail or commercial base inside the neighbourhood
- Confirmed transit access, since no Saskatoon Transit route was identified serving the area directly
- A large pool of comparable recent sales to benchmark pricing
Selling in The Willows
Sellers in The Willows need to understand that the comparable pool is small. With only 14 recorded sales in a single property category in 2024, pricing a home accurately requires a careful look at current listings and recent closed sales rather than relying on a broad neighbourhood average.
Buyers drawn to The Willows are likely comparing it against other move-up or lifestyle-oriented options rather than entry-level neighbourhoods. The property’s relationship to the golf course, whether it borders a fairway or water feature, and its construction-era condition are likely to matter more here than in a neighbourhood with a wider mix of housing types and price points.
Sellers should be careful not to overstate amenities the property does not have, such as direct golf course access or membership inclusion, since the course is privately operated and membership is separate from home ownership.
Investor Notes for The Willows
The Willows shows limited signals for rental-focused investors in the available City data. The 2021 Census reported a 97 percent homeownership rate and only 3 percent of households renting, and the City profile’s 2021 average gross rent figure for the neighbourhood was reported as zero, which likely reflects the very small number of rental households rather than an actual market rent of zero.
Given the high median multiple of 8.30 in 2024 and the small, owner-occupied rental pool, The Willows is not positioned as a typical rental-investment neighbourhood compared with established, higher-density areas of the city. Investors considering this neighbourhood should verify any rental-income assumptions directly with current listings and should not rely on citywide rental benchmarks, which are unlikely to reflect this neighbourhood’s actual rental market.
Commute And Daily Convenience
The Willows sits in the far southwest corner of the city, with access via Clarence Avenue South, Lorne Avenue, and Circle Drive just north of the neighbourhood’s rail-line boundary. The City’s 2021 mode-of-travel data shows that driving a car, truck, or van accounted for the overwhelming majority of trips to work, with no respondents reporting public transit, walking, or cycling as their primary mode.
No Saskatoon Transit route was identified on the official routes and schedules page as serving The Willows directly. Buyers who rely on transit should confirm current options directly with Saskatoon Transit before assuming service exists, since this is a meaningful gap for a buyer comparing neighbourhoods on transit access.
The nearest larger-format shopping is the SmartCentres Saskatoon development on Clarence Avenue South, with additional retail and services available in the neighbouring Stonebridge area. Winter driving and access should be tested directly, since the neighbourhood’s court-style street layout and single points of entry differ from a conventional grid.
Safety And Neighbourhood Perception
No independently verified, current crime statistics for The Willows are cited here, none were available from an official source as part of this draft. What can be said directly from City data is that The Willows is a low-density, high-homeownership neighbourhood built around a single recreational amenity, which is a different profile than most Saskatoon neighbourhoods with a broader mix of housing, schools, and retail. Buyers who weigh safety perception heavily should walk the specific streets they are considering at different times of day rather than judging the neighbourhood as a whole, and can request current crime statistics from the Saskatoon Police Service directly.
Pros and Cons of Living in The Willows
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Golf-course setting with the Willows Golf & Country Club running through the subdivision | No schools located in the neighbourhood |
| 97 percent homeownership rate, among the highest in the city | No identified Saskatoon Transit route serving the area |
| Low density at 2.0 dwelling units per hectare | No recorded public park space within the neighbourhood boundary |
| Mostly newer construction, concentrated from 2006 to 2016 | High median multiple of 8.30 in 2024, far above the Saskatoon average of 3.96 |
| Quiet, low-traffic residential streets | Small number of recorded annual sales makes pricing comparisons harder |
| Strong long-term owner-occupied character | Limited local retail; nearest larger shopping is on Clarence Avenue South or in Stonebridge |
Compared To Nearby Areas
- Stonebridge sits immediately north and offers in-neighbourhood schools, a larger retail base, and a wider range of housing types and price points than The Willows.
- Rosewood, also in the south end, offers newer construction and a broader mix of single-family and multi-unit housing without the golf-course focus or the same density constraints.
- Buyers comparing The Willows against either neighbourhood should weigh the trade-off of a golf-course setting and low density against the practical convenience of nearby schools, retail, and transit service.
Best Fit By Buyer Type
The Willows is worth considering if you want a low-density, golf-course community with a strongly owner-occupied housing profile and you are not relying on in-neighbourhood schools, transit, or retail. It may not be the right fit if you want a wide range of price points, a larger pool of comparable sales, or walkable amenities.
For most buyers, the decision comes down to how much weight the golf-course setting and low density carry against the practical gaps in schools, transit, and local retail, and whether the 2024 median multiple of 8.30 fits the budget.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Willows a good neighbourhood in Saskatoon?
The Willows can be a good fit for buyers who want a low-density, golf-course setting with a very high homeownership rate. It is not the best fit for everyone, especially buyers on a tighter budget, since the City's 2024 median multiple of 8.30 is far above the Saskatoon average of 3.96.
Is The Willows good for families?
The City of Saskatoon's neighbourhood profile lists no schools located within The Willows. Families would need to look at options in neighbouring areas such as Stonebridge and confirm current attendance boundaries, busing, and program details directly with Saskatoon Public Schools or Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools before buying.
What types of homes are in The Willows?
The City's 2024 dwelling unit count shows a mix of 36 percent single-family dwellings and 64 percent multi-unit dwellings, out of 374 total dwellings. The City's 2024 real estate sales data recorded sales activity only in the low-rise apartment condo category that year.
Are there schools in The Willows?
No. The City's neighbourhood profile states there are no schools located in the neighbourhood. The nearest school options are in surrounding neighbourhoods such as Stonebridge. Families should confirm current attendance boundaries and transportation directly with Saskatoon Public Schools or Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools.
Is The Willows good for first-time buyers?
Not typically based on the available pricing data. The City's 2024 median multiple for The Willows was 8.30, far above the Saskatoon average of 3.96 and well past the City's affordability threshold of 3.0. Buyers on a tighter budget will likely find more options in other Saskatoon neighbourhoods.
Is The Willows good for real estate investors?
The Willows shows limited investor signals in the available City data. The 2021 Census reported a 97 percent homeownership rate and only 3 percent of households renting, and 2024 average gross rent figures were not available for the neighbourhood. Investors should verify any rental assumptions directly rather than relying on neighbourhood averages.
How does The Willows compare to nearby Saskatoon neighbourhoods?
Compared with Stonebridge and Rosewood, The Willows is smaller, lower-density, and built around a private golf course rather than a full slate of in-neighbourhood schools and retail. Buyers wanting schools within walking distance or a larger selection of newer single-family homes may prefer Stonebridge or Rosewood, while buyers prioritizing a golf-course setting and low density may keep The Willows on the list.
What should buyers watch for in The Willows?
Buyers should watch for the limited number of recorded sales each year, which can make comparable pricing harder to establish, and should confirm school transportation needs, condo or homeowner association documents where applicable, and proximity to the CN rail line on the neighbourhood's north edge.
Thinking About Buying or Selling in The Willows?
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