More Great Housing Data!

As the final days of summer start to wane, Twin Cities home buyers posted their 14th consecutive week of double-digit, year-over-year gains. For the week ending August 13, there were 47.4 percent more purchase agreements signed than during the same week last year. A total of 952 buyers entered contract.

Sellers continued their slowdown, introducing only 1,387 new properties to the marketplace. That's 13.7 percent fewer than last year at this time. Slowed listings and comparatively strong sales figures have helped inventory levels post their largest weekly decline on record. The 24,232 active listings for sale were down 19.7 percent from last year. That record will likely be broken next week.

Renewed economic uncertainties combined with the Fed's announcement to maintain low interest rates could motivate some buyers to postpone their purchases. Though apparent in financial markets, the trepidation has yet to show up in local housing numbers. July's monthly data actually brought relief to some critical market indicators. Price declines are shrinking along with seller concessions, and absorption rates are finally moving in the right direction – toward balance.

This is all good news as those that want to sell have less competition. Those that are buying still have enough to choose from and rates are at historic lows! Now is a great time to buy or sell. Fill out this form if there is anything I can do for you.

Uplifting Real Estate News!

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.

If you or anyone you know is thinking of buying, the bottom we have all been looking for may be here! Drop me an email or call me at 612.308.4708. I'd be happy to help direct you down the right path. ~ Joe Koltes Visit my website at www.go2joe.com

Do most people still want to own their home?

Posted at 8:48 AM on April 26, 2011

www.go2joe.com

There was a fair amount of criticism last month when the housing price situation in the Minneapolis area was characterized as "a basket case." Based on the Case Shiller survey of housing resale prices in 20 major American cities. Minneapolis was at the bottom of the heap.

The numbers for February are out today from Case Shiller and as much as we might be tempted to put lipstick on a pig, there's simply no other way to describe Minneapolis' housing price situation. It's bad.

The seasonally-adjusted numbers for February show Minneapolis near the bottom again.

City	Change from January
Detroit	2.0%
Cleveland	1.2%
Washington	0.7%
Chicago	0.7%
Dallas	0.5%
Atlanta	0.4%
Phoenix	0.0
Los Angeles	-0.1%
Denver	-0.2%
New York	-0.2%
Las Vegas	-0.3%
Tampa	-0.4%
Boston	-0.6%
Charlotte	-0.6%
Portland	-0.8%
San Diego	-0.9%
San Francisco	-1.1%
Minneapolis	-1.3%
Miami	-1.4%
Seattle	-1.7%

There's something wrong when Cleveland and Detroit lead the nation in housing prices. True, of course, they had nowhere to go but up. But at least they went up.

Minneapolis has now declined for eight consecutive months, still a far cry, though, from the 23 consecutive months of housing value declines that started in 2007.

City	Change from a year ago
Washington	2.8%
Boston	-1.0%
Dallas	-1.2%
San Diego	-1.8%
Los Angeles	-2.1%
Denver	-2.5%
Cleveland	-2.8%
New York	-3.1%
San Francisco	-3.4%
Detroit	-3.6%
Charlotte	-4.9%
Las Vegas	-5.0%
Atlanta	-5.8%
Tampa	-5.9%
Miami	-6.1%
Portland	-7.0%
Seattle	-7.4%
Chicago	-7.5%
Minneapolis	-8.2%
Phoenix	-8.5%

What's particularly troubling is the pace of decline. In 2008, the Minneapolis area's prices declined 19%. But that decline pace slowed to 2.1% in 2009. In 2010, however, it increased to 5.1% and now the year-over-year drop is over 8 percent.

But lower prices usually attract people to the housing market, making owning a home more affordable than a year or two ago. That, however, may be changing.

"A lot of Americans don't want to own a house; they don't see it as a good long-term investment and they don't see it as a better way to live and raise a family," said David Blitzer of Standard and Poor's, which runs the survey.

Is that a sea change in the American Dream? "It's really not quite clear," he says. "If a year from now, we're sitting in the same place, we'll have no choice but to conclude that a lot of people who would've bought a house 10 years ago, aren't interested in it anymore." Drop me an email and I can send you some stats on your neighborhood. ~Joe Koltes

-Bob Collins, reporting

Home Sales Rise in February!

WASHINGTON — Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly rose in February, a trade group said on Monday, pointing to a modest pick-up in home sales. >Economists had expected the index, which leads existing home sales by a month or two, to fall 1.0 percent after a previously reported 2.8 percent decline.

This is especially good news from everyone's perspective. The spring market in real estate, generally the best time to get a home sold, is February through July 1. A drop in home sales in February would be an indicator of a slow housing recovery in a thought to be good time to sell.

When thinking of selling or buying, consider this: If your home has lost $50,000 in value, most likely the home you'd like to purchase has too. The benifeit to this is lower property taxes. The home you are purchasing will have a lower market value, meaning lower property taxes thank you would have paid 5 years ago.

Also interest rates are in the 4.5% fixed for 30 year range. This means thousands of dollars saved over the life of your loan verses buying 5 years ago.

Call me or email with any questions or if you'd like a FREE MARKET ANALYSIS, I'd be happy to help!
~Joe Koltes

Current Real Estate Stats

December 2010 Housing Report