Weekly Market Activity Report

Activity continues to pick up in the Twin Cities housing market as sellers and buyers bid a sad farewell to the Vikings' football season and the dormant holiday market begins to thaw. New listings, sales and inventory are steadily increasing as we prepare for the spring selling season.

For the week ending January 16 there were 571 signed purchase agreements, up 4.0 percent from a year ago. That's only the second week of year-over-year increase in the last nine. New listings were 8.3 percent higher than a year ago at 1,668, and the total inventory of homes available for sale currently sits at 20,459, down 18.9 percent from last year at this time.

With an extreme shortage of inventory in some of the lower price ranges, new listings may be welcome in that segment for the first time in several years. In the upper price ranges, sales activity is still declining and new sellers face a tougher market.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Info

IRS Releases Homebuyer Tax Credit Information

A week after the original launch date, IRS officials released information about filing for the Home Buyer Tax Credit - 1st Time and Existing.
IR-2010-6 is the official news release and it provides you with links to the filing forms and instructions. It is important for consumers to attach the Settlement Statement with all pertinent transaction information when filing. We have the NEW Form 5405 and Instructions at our website, www.mnrealtor.com.

REMEMBER: Time is running out for existing homeowners to take advantage of the Tax Credit.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service released the new form that eligible homebuyers need to claim the first-time homebuyer credit this tax season and announced processing of those tax returns will begin in mid-February. The IRS also announced new documentation requirements to deter fraud related to the fist-time homebuyer credit.
Read the entire Official News Release: IR-2010-6

Weekly Market Activity Report
The first full week of reporting for the 2010 Twin Cities housing market is in and while there are a few "green shoots," it's becoming apparent so far that the market won't see the same spectacular growth in sales it saw at the beginning of 2009.
There were 520 pending sales for the week ending January 9, down 1.7 percent from the same week in 2009. That's the seventh week of the last nine to see slightly fewer sales than the prior year, a time period that coincides closely with the initial expiration date of the first-time home buyer tax credit. However, we’re still 21.2 percent higher than the pace in 2008 for that period.
As you likely know, the credit's been expanded to include a $6,500 incentive for buyers who have owned a home for five years of the last eight. Since we can safely assume that many of these buyers will need to sell their home first before buying a new one and receiving the credit, new listings numbers might shed light on how much effect the new credit is having. So far, it doesn't appear to be much.
Over the last three months, the number of new listings has been 11.7 percent behind the same period one year prior. With many looking for continued "seedlings" of hope in the local housing market, this isn't welcome news. As always, we'll be keeping a close eye on the evolving market and reporting back what we see.