Twin Cities Real Estate Market Activity – Week of May 18, 2009 – More Improvement
The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors just published the latest report for the week of May 18, 2009. The trend continues – improved pending sales activity and decreasing listing inventory.
Parts of the marketplace are on fire but you would never know that listinening to the local media. The bottom is clearly in in my opinion in some of the close in cities. The suburbs still have a little ways to go.
Here’s the commentary from the association:
Weekly Market Activity Report
1,004. 1,046. 1,083. 1,078. 1,120. 1,185.
Notice a pattern? That’s the number of signed purchase agreements each of the last six weeks in the Twin Cities housing market, growing most weeks as the spring buyer market heats up. The 1,185 pending sales during the week of May 9 were a robust 26.6 percent higher than the same week in 2008. Over the last three months, there have been 2,228 more pending sales than the same period last year.
There are some caveats to this good news:
1.    Traditional home sales (excluding foreclosures and short sales) over those last three months are down 17.6 percent from a year ago.
2.    Sales above $190,000 are down 19.2 percent from a year ago.
3.    Sales of new construction homes are down 16.8 percent from a year ago.
Looking through a sharper lens is sometimes the best way to fully understand market dynamics. Take a look at our Housing Supply Outlook and our foreclosures and short sales report to learn more. (Here’s the interactive website for foreclosures and short sales).
Click here for this week’s full report. Visit market info for more research reports.There are two markets in the Twin Cities right now. If your trying to sell and your home is under $250,000 you’re feeling pretty good right now. As you start to move up the pricing chain it becomes increasingly more challenging.
This graph below really tells the story in the Twin Cities. The market is completely lopsided on the low end. Sales are soaring for the two lowest price categories (under $120,000 and $120,000 to $150,000). In fact, those two segments only represented 17.5% of the closed transactions in 2008 but in 2009, they now represent a whopping 37% of closed transactions! Wow!  As you move up in price, you can see the steady, consistent decline in overall closed transactions. Price lags transactions. Until transactions turn upward, prices will not.
(Click to enlarge in a new window)
