Home sales at 10-year low

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - 12:17 PM CDT Wednesday, April 11, 2007
by Carissa Wyant
Staff writer

A study released by the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors Wednesday says that home sales in the Twin Cities for the first quarter of 2007 were at their lowest in 10 years.

The study, which used data from the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors, said that there were 7,879 reported closed home sales during the first quarter of 2007 in the 13-county metro, down 14.91 percent from first quarter of 06.

The study also said that the median price of homes sold during this period was $223,000, a decline of .89 percent from one year ago.

Additionally, 27,503 new properties were placed up for sale during the first quarter of 2007, down 1.23 percent from the same period last year when 27,846 properties were added to the system.

Pending sales for the first quarter of 2007 were 10,923, down 13.03 percent from the same period in 2006, which the association said was the lowest level of pending sales reported during the first quarter of any year over the past 10 years.

The study found that pending sales for March increased 23.7 percent over February's reported pending sales.

Steve Hyland, president of the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors, said in a press release, "The strength of our local housing market is being overshadowed by the focused attention on mortgage fraud and predatory lending practices. These issues need to be addressed, but at the same time we still have a very healthy local housing market as indicated by the increase in showings, open house traffic and relatively steady median sales prices throughout the metro."

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

2003 Final Sales Totals

Great Homes in Minnesota (this site) is one of many sites that I run under the auspices of GreatHomesUSA. However, since I live in Minneapolis, I was able to build this site first, as such the team servicing the business generated from this site has been at it Since August 7th, 2003. Prior to that, for the months of May, June and July I either serviced the leads myself or I auctioned the leads to other Realtors.

By my tally, the 2003 numbers are fantastic, considering that it wasn't until October before Wollmering & Elliott began to realize their first sales and also it wasn't until April that I received my license.

For 2003, the site generated over $7.5 million in residential real estate sales. These are sales that CLOSED in 2003. Already for the first 6 days in 2004 we have over $2.6 million in closings scheduled for January and February. I predict a $20 million dollar year minimum, with $30 million definitely possible.

Hats off to Wollmering & Elliott. They are the #1 real estate team in Minnesota for many reasons including honesty, integrity and customer service. Great Job Team!!!

Brent

September / October Sales Report!

Thanks to all the folks who visited Great Homes in Minnesota in September and October. The last few months have been very very busy! We have sold a bunch of houses and wanted to use this space to give you an idea how the Internet is impacting our business. The table below shows only sales that have had all the contingencies removed.

Additionally,it only shows business that resulted from leads generated by this website! Keep in mind, it's only October 28th, so there are still quite a few sales that will make it into this table before the year is over!

Month	Transactions	Sales Volume
September	3	$565,000
October	5	$1,021,800
November	8	$1,331,600
December	4	$1,496.988
2003 Totals	20	$4,415,388

20 homes sold directly from the Internet - IN 4 MONTHS!  This speaks volumes about our team and their years of experience selling homes.  If you are searching for a home in Minnesota and have any doubts as to which Realtor to choose for your next purchase or sale, please consider the team of Wolmering & Elliott.  Or if you are looking to sell your house and relocate somewhere else in the United States, check out our national site at www.greathomesusa.com.  Our teams are nationwide and they are helping people find, buy and sell homes!It works!

Brent

August Sales Report!

Thanks to all the folks who visited Great Homes in Minnesota in August. Even though the month is not yet over, I wanted to update my readers on the sales that were generated from this website. For the record, the switchover to Wollmering & Elliott occurred on August 7th, so even with less than a full to work with, W&E was able to sell 6 homes solely from the leads from this site! Great Job Wollmering & Elliott! Here is a breakdown:

MLS #	Closing Date	Purchase Price
2134351	September 19, 2003	$193,500
2148384	September 5, 2003	$224,000
2135687	September 12, 2003	$121,900
2158320	September 30, 2003	$245,000
2155264	October 23, 2003	$244,000
New Home	February 15, 2004	$429,000

That's nearly $1.5 million in residential real estate sales for only the month of September - and all of these sales resulted from this website! That's great, I look forward to reporting similar results for September!