Here’s this week’s report from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. The association’s commentary is below:
Weekly Market Activity Report
Home sales in the Twin Cities housing market continue to post healthy increases over last year, though the upward movement isn’t as powerful as it was during September. For the week ending October 18, there were 618 signed purchase agreements (pending sales)—an increase of 9.6 percent over the same week last year and the 16th consecutive week of year-over-year upward movement. Foreclosures and short sales continue to comprise a sizable chunk of the market.
New listings for the same time period comparison were 18.1 percent lower, which represents the 30th week of the last 33 to have downward movement in new listing supply. The total inventory of homes for sale sits at 30,343, which is about 3,000 less than at this same time in 2007. Inventory should continue to fall through the remainder of the year but won’t fall as far as previous years given the higher number of foreclosures and short sales, which tend to stay on the market irregardless of snow depth and subzero temperatures.
Key points:
Listing inventory is down 10% compared to last year
Pending sales activity has now been consistently running 10-20% higher than last year lately.
Prices remain lower by 10-15% creating value and bargains for buyers
Money remains available for buyers with good credit – interest rates still around 6% for a 30 year mortgage
Mortgages without deposit should be prohibited by goverments.