Low inventory has been the story since its big drop in 2011 and 2012. The supply is even lower than it was in 2004, when buyers were scrambling to buy anything they could get their hands on because there were so few homes available for sale.
It is interesting how close the total number of homes for sale has been in 2013-2014-2015. What is encouraging is the bigger hump during the middle of the year in 2014 (more homes for sale)… and the increase in new listings in February, even higher than in 2012 and up 23.2% over last February.
Those are good indicators that more homes will be coming on the market this year. It is finally feeling like a more 'normal' market, with people selling their homes without so much fear of finding another one to buy.
Prices also continue to rise, another reason sellers are more able to list their homes for sale… which they are doing. The rising percent of traditional home sales vs foreclosures and short sales clearly reflects the normalizing of the market and is what is feeding the rise in prices. Massive fire sale days are behind us.
Closed sales are up only 1.2% over last February, but pending sales are up 21.8%, eerily close to the percentage rise in new listings. Buyers are watching new listings like hawks ready to snatch up the good ones when they hit the market. I had an open house last night on a new listing… and had over 25 groups of people attend the open house!
The figures above are based on statistics for the combined 13-county Twin Cities metropolitan area released by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.
Never forget that all real estate is local and what is happening in your neighborhood may be very different from the overall metro area.
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Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – Email – Minneapolis – St. Paul Real Estate Market
The team at HomesMSP - Sharlene, John, Angela – Minneapolis-St. Paul Realtors
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