It may not look significant when you see that January 2019 inventory increased only 1.1% over January 2018. But when you compare it to last year’s drop of 17.1% and look at the steady drop each year since 2015 and see that this year went up instead of down it is an encouraging shift. It is a sign we are moving towards a more ‘normal’, balanced market… exactly what we need.
Closed sales were down in January (mostly from pending sales at the end of last year), but new listings and pending sales were both up… perhaps helped by the Fed’s decision to not raise interest rates in January due to growing concerns about affordability.
Median sales price continued to increase, as did percent of list price received… as the days on market continued to drop… competition for homes for sale is still around.
Overall months supply of inventory increased this January, to 1.6 months. Single family houses had the biggest supply at 1.7 months, with townhomes at 1.1 months and condos at 1.5 months. Keep in mind this is still a very low supply… it isn’t considered balanced until there is a 5-6 month supply.
It continues to be a seller’s market in all price ranges under $1,000,000, with less than a 1-month supply in price ranges $120k-$250k. Expect competition to continue to be fierce in those price ranges.
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 – shensrud@homesmsp.com
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