Here's the latest Skinny put out by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. Sales were up & inventory levels are dropping. If this keeps go, the start of the housing recovery may be in hand. Check out this short video for more details.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Weekly Market Activity Report
While day traders continue along their roller coaster ride, 997 Twin Cities home buyers made the smart investment in real estate. That's 40.0 percent more than those who made the investment last year. As this year's pending sales trend line rounds off its seasonal peak, you'll notice that purchase demand is coming back in line with historical trends.
Sellers were another story. There were 1,433 new listings, 18.7 percent fewer than this time last year. Seller activity has also likely reached its seasonal peak but remains below historical levels for this time of year. Consequently, buyers have effectively absorbed existing supply. That's a good thing. The number of active listings is down 18.5 percent to 24,362 available homes for sale.
With strong sales and less new supply entering the market, the balance is shifting toward neutral. Both the prevalence and magnitude of seller concessions have stabilized, and absorption rates improved in July after 12 months of sizable increases. Though still slightly lower than last summer, prices have increased nearly 18.0 percent from March to June of this year.
While day traders continue along their roller coaster ride, 997 Twin Cities home buyers made the smart investment in real estate. That's 40.0 percent more than those who made the investment last year. As this year's pending sales trend line rounds off its seasonal peak, you'll notice that purchase demand is coming back in line with historical trends.
Sellers were another story. There were 1,433 new listings, 18.7 percent fewer than this time last year. Seller activity has also likely reached its seasonal peak but remains below historical levels for this time of year. Consequently, buyers have effectively absorbed existing supply. That's a good thing. The number of active listings is down 18.5 percent to 24,362 available homes for sale.
With strong sales and less new supply entering the market, the balance is shifting toward neutral. Both the prevalence and magnitude of seller concessions have stabilized, and absorption rates improved in July after 12 months of sizable increases. Though still slightly lower than last summer, prices have increased nearly 18.0 percent from March to June of this year.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Check out this cool interactive website from the New York Times to help you determine if it's better to buy or rent. CNN just reported that in many places it's become better to buy again, as the rental market is so tight, that rents have gone up. I've seen this in Minneapolis, so if you're on the fence, you may want to give this a look.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html
Monday, August 1, 2011
Monthly Skinny: July 2011
Here's the July Monthly Skinny from the Mpls Area Association of Realtors.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Here's some interesting info from CRS.com, a website for the top realtors. It is regarding Sellers Pricing their home realistically or not. Which category are you in?
Sellers Tend To Overprice Homes
Current home sellers who purchased their homes after the housing boom overprice their homes at a higher rate than those who purchased before or during the boom, according to a recent Zillow survey. Home sellers who purchased their home in 2007 or later overprice their homes by an average of 14.1 percent while those who purchased a home before 2002 price their homes approximately 11.6 percent over market value. Those who bought between 2002 and 2006 price their homes 9.3 percent above market value.
A similar sentiment prevails for homeowners who plan to sell their homes over the next four years. Those who purchased their home after the housing boom are more likely than bubble and pre-bubble buyers to base their asking price on the original purchase price of their homes rather than current market conditions.
“Overpricing homes causes them to stagnate on the market and keeps inventory from decreasing – not a desirable outcome for either the sellers or the market as a whole,” says Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries.
Fri, Jul 15, 2011
Sellers Tend To Overprice Homes
Current home sellers who purchased their homes after the housing boom overprice their homes at a higher rate than those who purchased before or during the boom, according to a recent Zillow survey. Home sellers who purchased their home in 2007 or later overprice their homes by an average of 14.1 percent while those who purchased a home before 2002 price their homes approximately 11.6 percent over market value. Those who bought between 2002 and 2006 price their homes 9.3 percent above market value.
A similar sentiment prevails for homeowners who plan to sell their homes over the next four years. Those who purchased their home after the housing boom are more likely than bubble and pre-bubble buyers to base their asking price on the original purchase price of their homes rather than current market conditions.
“Overpricing homes causes them to stagnate on the market and keeps inventory from decreasing – not a desirable outcome for either the sellers or the market as a whole,” says Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries.
Fri, Jul 15, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Dogs Days of Summer are here. But at least the twin cities real estate market is hanging in there. Check out the latest info from the Mpls Area Association of Realtors. And as always, if you have any real estate related questions, call, text, email, or Facebook me.
Weekly Market Activity Report
Home sales in the Twin Cities housing market continue to show strong year-over-year growth, but we must continue to point out that this is mostly due to how extraordinarily quiet last year was at this time following the expiration of the federal home buyer tax credit.
For the week ending July 9, there were 788 pending sales, an increase of 40.2 percent from a year ago. The amount of signed purchase agreements seen in recent weeks is similar to the activity for the same weeks in the summer of 2008.
The good news is that fewer homes are being listed, which is helping to dampen any potential for an oversupply problem. Over the last three months, there have been roughly 1,400 fewer new listings than during the same period in 2010, and the inventory of available homes for sale is down 16.1 percent from this time last year.
As always, balance between buyers and sellers plus a healthy, sustainable market is the ultimate goal.
Weekly Market Activity Report
Home sales in the Twin Cities housing market continue to show strong year-over-year growth, but we must continue to point out that this is mostly due to how extraordinarily quiet last year was at this time following the expiration of the federal home buyer tax credit.
For the week ending July 9, there were 788 pending sales, an increase of 40.2 percent from a year ago. The amount of signed purchase agreements seen in recent weeks is similar to the activity for the same weeks in the summer of 2008.
The good news is that fewer homes are being listed, which is helping to dampen any potential for an oversupply problem. Over the last three months, there have been roughly 1,400 fewer new listings than during the same period in 2010, and the inventory of available homes for sale is down 16.1 percent from this time last year.
As always, balance between buyers and sellers plus a healthy, sustainable market is the ultimate goal.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Weekly Market Activity Report
For the week ending July 2, there were 1,057 purchase agreements, a 58.2 percent increase over the 668 seen during the same week last year.
Let's sprinkle in some context. Over the past 10 weeks in the Twin Cities metro area, pending sales have increased slightly from 986 to 1,057. Over the same 10 weeks in 2010, pending sales plunged from a credit-inspired 1,505 to an unimpressive 668. The resulting year-over-year comparisons? Three consecutive weeks of 50.0 percent or greater gains and eight consecutive weeks of double-digit gains in buyer activity.
On the seller side, activity remains comparable with 2010 levels. The 1,396 new properties added to the market were only 0.7 percent under year-ago levels. Strong sales gains coupled with stagnant listing activity is dramatically drawing down inventory levels.
There are currently 25,613 homes being actively marketed in NorthstarMLS. That's down 15.6 percent from the 30,072 seen at this time last year, which is the largest inventory decline since January 2010.
For the week ending July 2, there were 1,057 purchase agreements, a 58.2 percent increase over the 668 seen during the same week last year.
Let's sprinkle in some context. Over the past 10 weeks in the Twin Cities metro area, pending sales have increased slightly from 986 to 1,057. Over the same 10 weeks in 2010, pending sales plunged from a credit-inspired 1,505 to an unimpressive 668. The resulting year-over-year comparisons? Three consecutive weeks of 50.0 percent or greater gains and eight consecutive weeks of double-digit gains in buyer activity.
On the seller side, activity remains comparable with 2010 levels. The 1,396 new properties added to the market were only 0.7 percent under year-ago levels. Strong sales gains coupled with stagnant listing activity is dramatically drawing down inventory levels.
There are currently 25,613 homes being actively marketed in NorthstarMLS. That's down 15.6 percent from the 30,072 seen at this time last year, which is the largest inventory decline since January 2010.
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