Pending sales have been pretty flat with a slight decline since their precipitous drop at the end of the federal tax credits last spring. In November pending sales were close to where they were at this time for the last two years. Even better news is that pending sales (purchase agreements accepted and waiting to close) were actually 10% above last year the first week in December for the first time since the end of the tax credits.
Closed sales lag behind pending sales a month or two, showing pretty much the same pattern… although 38.3% below last year's November sales because of the influence of the projected end of the tax credit at this time last year.
One of the most notable trends is the dropping percent of original list price received at time of sale, which at 89.4% in November was the lowest recorded since tracking started in 2002. In fact, according to Trulia, price reductions in Minneapolis held the dubious distinction of having the highest percentage of price reductions of the 50 largest cities in the United States… with 46% of listings showing price reductions.
With new listings slighly above last year and sales below, total inventory of homes available for sale continues to be above last year, but is following the normal trend of declining inventory at this time of the year.
Supply and demand are starting to even out by price range, and latest data shows all price ranges under $350K with a supply of inventory within the 7 month range. Although higher than the 5-6 month supply considered to be a balanced market, only prices under $150K were were in the 7-month range last month.
In spite of the high percentage of price reductions median sale price has only been declining modestly, influenced by the shift to sales in higher price ranges. 
The months supply of inventory continues to be significantly lower for houses and townhomes than condos. At 7.6 months for both houses and townhomes it is above last year at this time but still lower than November 2007 or 2008.
The figures above are based on statistics for the combined 13-county Twin Cities metropolitan area released by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. Click here for links to local reports for 125 metro area communities.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results - Email – Minneapolis – St. Paul Real Estate Market Information
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