As a member of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) I am regularly updated on the state of the Twin Cities real estate market. As you have probably been reading, the Twin Cities real estate market is heating up the past few months. This is especially noticeable in the lower end of the price range with the impact of the first time home buyers credit and more confidence among investors. I wrote about this yesterday – First Time Home Buyers Credit in Dakota County
MAAR just published their weekly market update for the week ending August 31, 2009 and the good news continues for this market – MAAR Weekly Market Activity Report
In 2006, the inventory of homes for sale was plentiful and buyers were in short supply. Regular followers of our weekly report will have noticed that a shift has been in the works for several months. The week-to-week patterns of pending sales and inventory resemble market patterns from last year, but pending sales have consistently outperformed last year’s numbers. In fact, the most recent week’s 1,012 signed purchase agreements represents a 23.7 percent increase over last year and is the 59th week of the last 60 with a year-over-year increase.
Active listings are dwindling, down 21.2 percent from last year. Inventory supply has dropped from 10.5 months to 7.2 months in the last year, and it has dropped quickly in the lower price ranges where sales activity is the strongest. Shift, change, adjust, correct, stabilize—take your pick of these words when describing today’s housing market, and you’ll be right.
Some of the important numbers on the report – Current Inventory is down from 33,000 homes available to 26,200 which is a huge help. A balanced inventory in the Twin Cities is considered around 20,000 homes. We are also seeing Days on Market decreasing and Percent of List Price received increasing which are good signs for sellers.
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