Monthly Skinny: January 2012

Interest rates are 4.0% for 30 yr Conventional & 3.75% for FHA. That's Crazy. Check out this 3 min video for the latest from Mpls Area Association of Realtors.

The 2011 Annual Report by the Mpls Area Association of Realtors just came out.  The Average Selling Price for the Twin Cities was $193,450.  That's about where it was in 2000-2001, before the bubble.  The Median Selling Price was $150,000. 

Much of the pricing was determined by the Distressed Homes Market which comprised 50% of the sales in 2011.  Traditional Median Sales Price was $200,000, while Foreclosure Median Sales Price was $108,000.  On the positive side, Pending Sales increased by 10.8% over 2010 & Inventory is at it's lowest in the past 5 years.  The Supply & Demand are postured for a good 2012.

Foreclosures fall to lowest level since 2007

Here's a somewhat encouraging article that just came out yesterday from CNN Money regardign Foreclosure rates. Check it out.
Foreclosures fall to lowest level since 2007

Happy New Year!  Here's some good news/bad news fron the National Housing Market Scene.  As far as for the Twin Cities, the numbers aren't in yet for December, but I do expect the median price to be lower than a year ago.  Pending sales thru 12/24/11 though were 30.1% ahead of Last Year for the previous 3 months.  So that is GOOD NEWS here! 

Home Values Decline at Slower Pace in 2011
The year-end news on U.S. home values is a mix of good and bad, according to Zillow. U.S. homes are expected to have lost more than $681 billion in value during 2011, but that is 35 percent less than the $1.1 trillion lost in 2010, and the total losses in 2011 are smaller than the prior four years. The bulk of the lost value took place during the first six months of the year when U.S. homes lost $454 billion. From July to December, Zillow projects residential home value losses may total $227 billion.

The majority of markets surveyed (92 percent) showed home value losses in 2011, and only nine of the 128 markets showed gains. New Orleans posted the largest gain with $3.5 billion followed by Pittsburgh with a gain of $2.7 billion. Meanwhile, larger metro areas like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago experienced the biggest home value losses of $75 billion, $44.8 billion and $41.7 billion, respectively. 

"While homeowners suffered through another year of steep losses, the good news is that homes are losing value at a substantially slower pace as the market works its way toward the bottom,” says Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. “Unfortunately, when we look ahead to next year, the unabsorbed pool of housing supply, dragging levels of consumer confidence, high unemployment and negative equity will continue to put downward pressure on the housing market, pushing our expectation for a potential recovery into late 2012 or early 2013.”

CRS Member Connect  Fri, Dec 30, 2011

I learned an interesting tidbit during our Tuesday morning sales meeting today that I thought was interesting. 

As of 12/10/11, there were 19,380 Active Listings in the Twin Cities.  Last year at the same time there was 25,249 Active Listings.  We currently have a 5.7 month supply of Properties for Sale.  Last year, we had 8.2 month supply. 

We are definitely in a Balanced Market & that is very Good News!

Even though the market is soft, 81 % of renters still think a home is a good investment.

Here's an interesting fact; One in five baby boomer couples have already given at least one of their children the means to purchase a home.  Either buying it outright, furnishing the down payment or co-signing.  

Here's a short note from Mpls Area Association of Realtors with some current Market Stats.

Tryptophan and chatty in-laws were not able to curb the appetite of local home buyers, as purchase activity easily gobbled up last year's levels. Sellers were apparently stuffed and lethargic, as they brought fewer new properties onto the market than during the same holiday week last year. As we approach the slowest time of year for residential activity, expect transacted dollar volumes and sales counts to weaken from the spring and summer of this year. Keep watching inventory declines; they could have a measurable impact on the Spring 2012 market.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending November 26: • New Listings decreased 9.1% to 601 • Pending Sales increased 46.8% to 574 • Inventory decreased 22.8% to 20,318

For the month of October: • Median Sales Price decreased 9.6% to $154,500 • Days on Market decreased 0.5% to 134 • Percent of Original List Price Received increased 0.9% to 91.2% • Months Supply of Inventory decreased 27.6% to 6.3