After showings took a nosedive in March due to the coronavirus shutdown, they climbed up again even more dramatically in April. As of May 20, 2020 showings are only 6.4% behind last year.
The year-to-date trend for new and pending listings is also climbing after its drop from mid-March to mid-April. This week is the first week after the stay-at-home order was lifted May 18, 2020.
A few changes are taking place in the real estate world this week… inspections again allow buyers and agents to attend but with restrictions. Open houses are again allowed, but also with restrictions such as masks and limited numbers due to social distancing.
We now have official data from Minneapolis Area Association for April 2020. Although we were on coronavirus stay-at-home orders for the whole month, real estate was deemed an essential service so there was subdued activity, much of it concluding activity that started before COVID-19 changed everything.
In March, new listings, pending and closed sales were all up compared to last year. In April, new listings dropped 22.9% and pending sales dropped 20.1% compared to April 2019. Closed sales increased a little, at 3.5%… largely because of closing sales that pended earlier.
Total homes for sale dropped 13.1% compared to last year, which rose compared to the previous year. Days on the market before pending also dropped… by 17.5% to 47 days. Buyers looking for falling prices didn’t find them, with sales averaging 99.9% of list price.
Last month median sales price increase 8% year-over-year, the biggest increase since May 2018… this month it increase even more, 8.9% over April 2019. The low inventory and high demand continue to support higher prices.
I consider months supply of inventory one of the best indicators of the real estate market because it takes into account not only how many homes are available for sale but also the rate at which they are being purchase. The market is considered balanced when there is a 5-6 month supply of homes for sale.
April 2020 supply dropped 18.2% below April 2019… to only 1.8 months supply. What surprised me was the supply of condos was the same as April 2019, while the supply of houses dropped 17.4% and the supply of townhomes dropped 5.9%. Are we already seeing the effect of a desire for more space and more social distancing due to the coronavirus?
When looking at supply by price range, it still doesn’t become a buyer’s market until you hit the $1,000,000 mark. Buyers in lower price ranges really feel the challenge, with multiple offers the name of the game.
The data in this post comes from statistics 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.
Click here for local reports on 350+ metro area communities
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.com
RELATED POSTS
