Here's the latest Monthly Skinny from Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. There's some Good News & some Bad News. Bad ~ We ended the 2010 year with sales dropping 16.8% from the previous year. Good ~ A slight ray of sunshine was the Median Sales Price rose 2.3% from the previous year. Let's hope that sun keeps on shining.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Weekly Market Activity Report
Twin Cities home buyers and sellers both showed week-over-week increases coupled with year-over-year declines. The 1,490 New Listings were up over 120.0 percent from the previous week but down 10.7 percent from the previous year. The 475 Pending Sales were up over 70.0 percent from the previous week but down 8.7 percent from the previous year.
Moral of the story? The market has embarked on its typical new year's ascent as we begin our long drive toward spring. We likely won't match 2010 levels until the summer months – when we're finally comparing two nonincentive markets on a level playing field.
Inventory was the metric to watch for the week, as the number of active listings for sale snuck in only 7.2 percent above year-ago levels. That's the smallest inventory increase since the first full week in August 2010. As of January 18, there were 21,687 homes available for purchase. While that's plenty of product for buyers to sift through, sellers will have to ensure that their properties show well and are priced aggressively.
Twin Cities home buyers and sellers both showed week-over-week increases coupled with year-over-year declines. The 1,490 New Listings were up over 120.0 percent from the previous week but down 10.7 percent from the previous year. The 475 Pending Sales were up over 70.0 percent from the previous week but down 8.7 percent from the previous year.
Moral of the story? The market has embarked on its typical new year's ascent as we begin our long drive toward spring. We likely won't match 2010 levels until the summer months – when we're finally comparing two nonincentive markets on a level playing field.
Inventory was the metric to watch for the week, as the number of active listings for sale snuck in only 7.2 percent above year-ago levels. That's the smallest inventory increase since the first full week in August 2010. As of January 18, there were 21,687 homes available for purchase. While that's plenty of product for buyers to sift through, sellers will have to ensure that their properties show well and are priced aggressively.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Shrinking Home Sizes
Here's an interesting article I just ran across talking about Home Sizes. It is projected that the size of the average home will decrease 24% during the ten year period of 2005-2015.
Builders Expect Home Sizes to Keep Shrinking
By Steve Brown Print Article
RISMEDIA, January 18, 2011—(MCT)—Homebuilders are thinking smaller. They’ve cut the average size of new houses and expect it to shrink more over the next few years. “Most builders will build smaller and lower-priced homes in 2011,” said Rose Quint, a researcher with the National Association of Home Builders. “Our experts expect the average home size in 2015 to be around 2,150 square feet.” That’s down from the 2,377-square-foot average size of single-family homes completed across the country in 2010. And it’s way below the more than 2,500-square-foot average size at the top of the market in 2007. Nationwide, home sizes are still almost 50% ahead of where they were in the 1970s.
Almost 60% of builders surveyed said they are planning to cut the size of the houses they build during the next few years. Housing researchers say the downsizing is due to the dour economy and changing consumer tastes. “Part of it may be temporary (because of the recession), but there are factors behind the decline that are longer-term and will stay with us,” Quint said. Costs savings and demographics are also shrinking houses, she said. “There is an overwhelming desire in the population to keep energy costs down,” Quint said. “Twenty percent of our population will be over 65 in a few decades. They don’t want a big home.”
The recession and drop in home values have also tempered home buyers’ desires. “People don’t have a lot of equity in their homes to roll into a bigger home. Those times are over,” Quint said. “People have come to realize, ‘Let’s buy what we need, not what we don’t need.’”
To get the heft of houses down, builders are ditching living rooms and dining rooms in favor of multipurpose areas. More than 80% of builders say they expect to do away with formal living rooms, and the number of houses with three or more bathrooms and four or more bedrooms is dwindling. But buyers say they won’t compromise when it comes to storage space. And green features are still growing in popularity with both builders and consumers. More than 80% of potential buyers list energy-efficient heating, air-conditioning and appliances as “must-haves” in their new home.
(c) 2011, The Dallas Morning News.
Builders Expect Home Sizes to Keep Shrinking
By Steve Brown Print Article
RISMEDIA, January 18, 2011—(MCT)—Homebuilders are thinking smaller. They’ve cut the average size of new houses and expect it to shrink more over the next few years. “Most builders will build smaller and lower-priced homes in 2011,” said Rose Quint, a researcher with the National Association of Home Builders. “Our experts expect the average home size in 2015 to be around 2,150 square feet.” That’s down from the 2,377-square-foot average size of single-family homes completed across the country in 2010. And it’s way below the more than 2,500-square-foot average size at the top of the market in 2007. Nationwide, home sizes are still almost 50% ahead of where they were in the 1970s.
Almost 60% of builders surveyed said they are planning to cut the size of the houses they build during the next few years. Housing researchers say the downsizing is due to the dour economy and changing consumer tastes. “Part of it may be temporary (because of the recession), but there are factors behind the decline that are longer-term and will stay with us,” Quint said. Costs savings and demographics are also shrinking houses, she said. “There is an overwhelming desire in the population to keep energy costs down,” Quint said. “Twenty percent of our population will be over 65 in a few decades. They don’t want a big home.”
The recession and drop in home values have also tempered home buyers’ desires. “People don’t have a lot of equity in their homes to roll into a bigger home. Those times are over,” Quint said. “People have come to realize, ‘Let’s buy what we need, not what we don’t need.’”
To get the heft of houses down, builders are ditching living rooms and dining rooms in favor of multipurpose areas. More than 80% of builders say they expect to do away with formal living rooms, and the number of houses with three or more bathrooms and four or more bedrooms is dwindling. But buyers say they won’t compromise when it comes to storage space. And green features are still growing in popularity with both builders and consumers. More than 80% of potential buyers list energy-efficient heating, air-conditioning and appliances as “must-haves” in their new home.
(c) 2011, The Dallas Morning News.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Home Price Fell 4.1 Percent in 2010 & Outlook for 2011
Home Prices Fell 4.1 Percent in 2010
U.S. home prices posted a 4.1 percent annual decline in 2010, which was a year marked by dramatic price swings, according to the latest monthly Home Data Index Market Report by Clear Capital. Over a 21-week span from late March to mid August, home prices increased 9.7 percent, followed by a 9.4 percent drop over the subsequent 19 weeks from September to December.
Home prices declined in 70 percent of the major markets last year, but only eight experienced double-digit price declines. Six of the 15 major markets that managed to post price gains in 2010 were in California.
Looking ahead to 2011, Clear Capital forecasts home prices to fall an additional 3.7 percent over the next 12 months. Washington, D.C., Houston, Honolulu, Memphis, Tenn., and Columbus, Ohio, could post the biggest price gains, while Virginia Beach, Va., New Haven, Conn., Tucson, Ariz., Dayton, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Fla., are expected to experience double-digit declines. Local unemployment rates and the prevalence of distressed homes are two key factors of local home market performance, the report concludes.
Certified Residential Specialist Member Connect Fri, Jan 7, 2011
U.S. home prices posted a 4.1 percent annual decline in 2010, which was a year marked by dramatic price swings, according to the latest monthly Home Data Index Market Report by Clear Capital. Over a 21-week span from late March to mid August, home prices increased 9.7 percent, followed by a 9.4 percent drop over the subsequent 19 weeks from September to December.
Home prices declined in 70 percent of the major markets last year, but only eight experienced double-digit price declines. Six of the 15 major markets that managed to post price gains in 2010 were in California.
Looking ahead to 2011, Clear Capital forecasts home prices to fall an additional 3.7 percent over the next 12 months. Washington, D.C., Houston, Honolulu, Memphis, Tenn., and Columbus, Ohio, could post the biggest price gains, while Virginia Beach, Va., New Haven, Conn., Tucson, Ariz., Dayton, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Fla., are expected to experience double-digit declines. Local unemployment rates and the prevalence of distressed homes are two key factors of local home market performance, the report concludes.
Certified Residential Specialist Member Connect Fri, Jan 7, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Weekly Market Activity Report
Buyers and sellers were less active in the closing week of 2010 than they were during the final week of 2009. Following three consecutive weeks of increases, sellers pulled back and listed 677 new properties or 1.6 percent fewer than they did last year at this time. This is slightly below the three-month average but up from the holiday week.
Buyers and sellers were less active in the closing week of 2010 than they were during the final week of 2009. Following three consecutive weeks of increases, sellers pulled back and listed 677 new properties or 1.6 percent fewer than they did last year at this time. This is slightly below the three-month average but up from the holiday week.Buyer activity continued along its seasonal decline. The 279 purchase agreements signed for the week were down 26.2 percent from the year prior. While the number "26.2" may pique the interest of marathoners, the rest of us are ready to see the market sustain gains in purchase demand. On average over the last three months, the year-over-year decline is a frigid 20.3 percent.
The number of active listings available for purchase rose 10.5 percent from last year to 21,597 properties. That gain came in slightly under the three-month average change in inventory levels but is in line with historical seasonal changes.
Friday, January 7, 2011
National Association of Realtors 2011 Projected Home Sales
Here's some good news on this cold January day.
Looking ahead to 2011, NAR projects existing-home sales to rise 8 percent to 5.2 million by the end of the year from 4.8 million in 2010, with an additional gain of 4 percent in 2012. The median existing-home price is expected to edge up 0.6 percent to $173,700 in 2011 from $172,700 in 2010, which was unchanged from 2009.
NAR projects that new-home sales will rise 24 percent in 2011 to 392,000, well below historic averages, while housing starts are expected to rise 21 percent to 716,000. Thu, Dec 30, 2010
Looking ahead to 2011, NAR projects existing-home sales to rise 8 percent to 5.2 million by the end of the year from 4.8 million in 2010, with an additional gain of 4 percent in 2012. The median existing-home price is expected to edge up 0.6 percent to $173,700 in 2011 from $172,700 in 2010, which was unchanged from 2009.
NAR projects that new-home sales will rise 24 percent in 2011 to 392,000, well below historic averages, while housing starts are expected to rise 21 percent to 716,000. Thu, Dec 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Ahh, back to work after the holiday sugar buzz has worn off. Here's a great recap of the year in the Twin Cities Real Estate Market.
Weekly Market Activity Report
Buyer activity for the week ending December 25 was fairly even with last year – down only 3.3 percent to 379 purchase agreements signed. The lowest weekly sales volume on record is 235 and it occurred during the final week of 2007. Weekly sales volumes have lingered between 400 and 700 units since the beginning of May.
Sellers were outwardly optimistic about future purchase activity as they listed 657 new homes on the market, up a substantial 47.3 percent from the same week in 2009. That's the largest year-over-year gain in seller activity since mid-April 2010.
Inventory levels are still on their seasonal uphill climb, and this won't change until the snow starts melting. At this rate, that could be May! In all seriousness, there are currently 21,161 Twin Cities properties being actively marketed. That's 11.5 percent more than the same week last year. This is nothing extraordinary and is in line with the usual seasonal changes.
As 2010 limps into the history books, we happily bid it adieu as the outlook for the latter half of 2011 continues to look up.
Weekly Market Activity Report
Buyer activity for the week ending December 25 was fairly even with last year – down only 3.3 percent to 379 purchase agreements signed. The lowest weekly sales volume on record is 235 and it occurred during the final week of 2007. Weekly sales volumes have lingered between 400 and 700 units since the beginning of May.
Sellers were outwardly optimistic about future purchase activity as they listed 657 new homes on the market, up a substantial 47.3 percent from the same week in 2009. That's the largest year-over-year gain in seller activity since mid-April 2010.
Inventory levels are still on their seasonal uphill climb, and this won't change until the snow starts melting. At this rate, that could be May! In all seriousness, there are currently 21,161 Twin Cities properties being actively marketed. That's 11.5 percent more than the same week last year. This is nothing extraordinary and is in line with the usual seasonal changes.
As 2010 limps into the history books, we happily bid it adieu as the outlook for the latter half of 2011 continues to look up.
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