Here's an article posted yesterday to the CRS Connect Blog (Certified Residential Specialist).  More good news.  Home prices up 7.3% in 2012 & expected to continue to rise.

U.S. home prices rose 7.3 percent in 2012, the strongest rate of appreciation in seven years, according to the latest Core Logic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Home prices will continue to grow in 2013 but at a decelerated rate of 2.5 percent. Through the fourth quarter of 2017, home prices are projected to increase an average of 3.9 percent per year every year.
The largest year-over-year price gains were recorded in some of the metro areas that were most affected by the housing bubble, including Phoenix where prices rose 23.8 percent in 2012, Miami which increased 14 percent and Las Vegas at 13 percent. In addition, price declines moderated in locations with lagging recoveries, such as Long Island where prices fell 4 percent and Virginia Beach, Va., where prices fell 2 percent.

By Regina Ludes, Monday, 20 May 2013 - 10:28am

The latest report from Mpls Area Association of Realtors.  Months supply of inventory is quite low at 3.2 months.  At the height, we had approximately an 11 month supply.  Supply is low, Demand is Up & if you remember from Econ 101, that means it is a Seller's Market.

 

You’re busy – planes to catch, open homes to see and little league games to coach. But in less time than it takes to lint roll a favorite set of slacks, you can catch up on the most up-to-date and local housing market trends. Don’t clutter your brain with big data that has muddled together home sales from across the county. Get ahead of the curve by zeroing in on your region’s market and nothing else.   Read on for the good stuff. In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending May 11: • New Listings increased 25.1% to 1,858 • Pending Sales increased 16.2% to 1,305 • Inventory decreased 27.5% to 13,556  For the month of April: • Median Sales Price increased 12.0% to $182,000 • Days on Market decreased 28.1% to 97 • Percent of Original List Price Received increased 2.7% to 95.9% • Months Supply of Inventory decreased 36.0% to 3.2

More good news on the Real Estate front.  This is an article that appeared on CRS Connect Blog, which is Certified Residential Specialist, a professional network of successful real estate agents that I am a member of.

Metro area home prices continued to climb in the first quarter of 2013, with the best year-over-year gain in more than seven years, according to the latest quarterly report by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The national median price of an existing single-family home was $176,600 in the first quarter, up 11.3 percent from $158,600 in the first quarter of 2012. The median existing home price rose in 133 of the 150 metro areas surveyed, while 17 areas had price declines. Some of the previously hard-hit markets, like Phoenix, Sacramento and Miami, continue to experience a dramatic turnaround, while markets like Atlanta, Seattle and Minneapolis are beginning to show improvement.
Total existing-home sales edged up 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million in the first quarter from 4.90 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, and they were 9.8 percent above the 4.50 million homes sold during the first quarter of 2012. An estimated 1.93 million existing homes were available for sale at the end of the first quarter, 16.8 percent below the close of the first quarter of 2012, when 2.32 million homes were on the market. Distressed sales accounted for 23 percent of all first-quarter sales, down from 32 percent a year ago, and they generally sold at a 20-percent discount.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 4.4 percent in the first quarter and were 9.1 percent above the first quarter of 2012. The median sales price of an existing home in the Northeast rose 2.9 percent to $234,000 in the first quarter.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales increased 1.2 percent in the first quarter and were 15.0 percent higher than a year ago. The median sale price of an existing home in the Midwest was $135,100, an increase of 8.2 percent from the first quarter of 2012.
In the South, existing-home sales edged up 0.7 percent in the first quarter and were 13.3 percent higher than a year ago. The median sale price of an existing home in the South was $156,800 in the first quarter, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier.
Existing-home sales in the West slipped 1.1 percent in the first quarter but were 0.6 percent higher than a year ago. The median sale price of an existing home in the West jumped 24.4 percent to $247,800 compared to the first quarter of 2012.

By Regina Ludes, Friday, 10 May 2013 - 8:00am

The supply is still dwindling.  It's a Great time to sell.  Here's Mpls Area Association of Realtors latest update.

Less supply, more demand and rising prices are being seen in residential markets across the nation.  Although grumpy cats using national data sometimes grouse about the housing recovery's fragility, housing trends have remained positive for well over a year now, and the road ahead looks bright with better lending standards in place.  Ominous headlines may benefit advertisers & search engine optimization, but local consumers informed of local situations are in a better position to leverage the market.

 

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending April 20:

• New Listings decreased 4.5% to 1,601

• Pending Sales increased 9.7% to 1,337

• Inventory decreased 28.4% to 13,258