John Murphy Reports

This is a great list of essentially what’s hot and what’s not with home buyers in 2007-2008.

Clearly the move toward smaller houses with finer quality is a trend shift that I believe will be us for many, many years as the mortgage market reforms itself and as the X and Y generation move up.   Buyers who are in their 20′s – 40′s tend not to have as many children as the previous generations did so they don’t have the need for as large of house.

Enjoy the list!

The Star Tribune ran this story about a week and a half ago once the October sales figures were published. Jim Buchta published an article entitled, “Home Sales: The Slide Goes On.”

Highlights include:

• New listings were up 2.7% compared to October 2006
• Median sales price fell 3.5% to $220,000 compared to October 2006
• Pending home sales increased 14.6% from September ’07 to October ’07 (more on that below)
• For the first 10 months of the year, sales are 16% lower compared to 2006

Jim then quoted me:

John Murphy, sales agent for Edina Realty and a specialist in the western suburbs, said that because the mortgage meltdown didn’t really hit Wall Street until mid-August, the October uptick might be a sign that shoppers have a better sense of what’s happening in the markets.

“Buyers are trying to find their legs again in October,” he said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that there was more activity.”

He then goes on to note that sellers are getting 93.1% of their asking price this year compared to 97.7% two years ago.

Two years ago the median sale price in October was $230,000, 4.4 percent higher than now, but Murphy said that given the level of inventory, prices could come down even more. “It doesn’t necessarily mean prices have to come down a lot,” he said. “But 5 to 10 percent off the current asking price seems reasonable. Whether or not that will get buyers back into the game is hard to know.”

He added that there are still plenty of buyers, but many are being patient and are waiting for listings to “age,” or to sit on the market until a seller makes a price reduction or gets desperate.

“Buyers are still looking for deals,” he said. “And most sellers aren’t willing to give them the deals buyers are looking for.”

As a follow up to this story, the Case Schiller Index was published this past Tuesday this week. It noted that home prices are down 4.5% in the Twin Cities metro.

Okay, so you’ll learn a little more about me…I am a big country music fan. I loved this song from the very first time I heard it!

Enjoy! The video will launch when you click below.

International Harvester by Craig Morgan.

The City of Plymouth, MN just published their draft of the 2030 comprehensive plan.

I probably won’t be posting much over the course of the next week.  I have been called to serve for jury duty in Hennepin County and it’s my civic duty to do so.

There were about 200-250 people in the jury room this morning waiting to see if we would be called up to a court room.  It’s going to be a long week, but in order for justice to be served, it requires the patience of many…including me.

This is a great blog for tracking the challenges Countrywide faces.  Countrywide’s REO properties are up three fold so far this year to over 14,000 properties.

The City of Medina, MN posted a one page PDF summary of the 2000 Census for Medina. It’s interesting to see that the average age in Medina is 38 which I believe make Medina a younger community than Plymouth, MN.

City_of_Medina_MN_2000_Census_Data

I am looking to buy homes in Plymouth, Medina, Maple Grove and St. Louis Park for investment purposes.

If you, or if you know of someone, who is in or near pre-foreclosure and they need help unloading their property, I may be able to help.  There are many people who purchased property in the past 2-3 years who are now upside down in their homes.  They may be able sell their home in a short sale and avoid foreclosure.  For more information about short sales see this post from earlier this month.
I will consider any property that you may have and I have the ability to close quickly.

The Star Tribune published an informative story about the rise in property taxes throughout the metro.  Part of the issue has been the legislature has gamed the system of property taxation and now that is starting to unwind.

If you look at your tax statements, you will often see two different numbers.  One is an estimate market value and one might be a taxable value or limited value.   Those two numbers are now supposed to be equal by 2009.

During the boom, it was not uncommon to see those values be 10-20% under the true market value of the home.  As the tax value gets increased to market value, some homeowners are going to see a substantial hike in their tax bill.

Remember, the government is going to get their first.  What ever’s left is yours.

The Star Tribune ran this story last week about how low one should go on writing offers in today’s buyers market.  There is no set standard as to what you should do.  If you like the home, it is often a delicate balance between upsetting the seller so much that they won’t deal with you and making sure the offer is advantageous for you, the buyer.