Home prices rise in Twin Cities

The median sale price for homes in the 13-county metropolitan area rose 6.8 percent to $201,824 in February, compared to $189,000 in February 2003.

The number of homes sold declined 1.6 percent in the year-over-year period to 2,731 homes, compared to a record-breaking 2,776 sales in February last year.

"February sales indicate that the Twin Cities housing market remains very healthy," said Decklynn Theisen, president of the Southern Twin Cities Association of Realtors in a statement.

Theisen expects increased activity on the housing market. "March typically kicks off the spring home selling season and with continued low-interest rates, lots of new listings on the market, and strong pending sales numbers, we expect it to be a very productive month for home buyers and sellers."

New listings in February were up 12.7 percent to 6,700, while pending sales rose 2.2 percent to 4,277. Pending sales are transactions for which purchase agreements have been signed, but sales have not closed.

Anoka, Sherburne, and Scott Counties logged the greatest increases in median sale price this February compared to February 2003. Anoka County median sale price rose 12.9 percent to $201,000. Sherburne County median price rose 10.7 percent to $191,500, and Scott County median price increased 9.7 percent to $233,500.

Chisago and Sherburne counties saw the greatest increases in closed sales; Chisago County sales increased 58.5 percent to 65 and Sherburne County sales increased 32.9 percent to 101.

Housing statistics include existing single-family homes, condominiums, and townhomes. The numbers were provided by the Realtor Public Policy Partnership in St. Paul and are based on closed existing home sales as reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

2003 Minneapolis St. Paul Home Sales

Beating earlier predictions the Twin Cities housing market set an alltime
record with 56,528 home sales in2003. That statistic represents an increase
of over 10 percent compared to 2002’s record-breaking 51,212 home
sales in the 13-county metropolitan area. Median sale price increased 8
percent to $199,900 in 2003. On Jan. 15, St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and Metropolitan Council Chairman Peter Bell joined presidents from four local realtor associations in celebrating the strength of the housing market and highlighting new housing opportunities in the Twin Cities area. They announced the statistics at a model unit in Emerald Gardens, a new townhome and condominium development in St. Paul.

The development is part of Kelly’s Housing 5,000 Initiative, which recently reached the halfway point toward the goal of building 5,000 new housing units by the end of 2005. “We have been extremely fortunate in St. Paul to have a mayor and city council that are focused on creating housing opportunities for residents at all income levels and stages of life,” said John Lockner, President of the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors.

Lockner noted a 143 percent increase in downtown St. Paul home sales, the highest sales increase of any other area of the Twin Cities. Other neighborhoods topping the home sales charts in 2003 include St. Louis Park (75 percent increase in home sales), Belle Plaine (46 percent), Hopkins (41 percent), and the University (37 percent) and Phillips (37 percent) neighborhoods in Minneapolis. Citing three years of record sales volumes, Realtor predicted that
low interest rates and gradual decline in price increases would make 2004
the second-best year for housing sales on record.

1st Two Months of 2004

Thanks to interest rates that remain at historic lows, January and February 2004 were great months for home sales. To date, my teams in Chicago and Minneapolis have sold $6.3 million in residential homes. Chicago is finally getting in the game, which is great! On April 1st, I hope to report total sales of $14 million. That would be great! Still hoping for a $50 million dollar year!

Brent