Please note that all following statistics are provided by Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors and seem accurate and reliable.

Activity for the January of 2010, being the most recent month, shows ‘New Listings’ jump from 1 to 3 new homes for sale, which represents a 200% increase from the same period in 2009. There were no closed home sales during the first month, which compares less favorably to the year ago when there was one closed sale. Yet, if we dig deeper, we can find that 2009 actually saw a drop in new home listings from 2008 from 58 to 53, while at same time the number of closed sales increased from 19 during 2008 to 26 during 2009.

‘Median Sales Price’ for a property in Afton MN during the January of 2009 was only $76,000. Since there were no real estate sales in January 2010, we have to take a look at the month before, December of 2009, when the Media Sales Price was $315,000. That’s quite a big jump indeed! However, for a year as a whole, 2009 have seen Median Sales Price drop to $307,000 from $404,000 during previous year.

‘Percent of Original List Price Received’ of homes for sale shows a drop from 93.2% (2008) to 85.2% (2009), confirming the price pressure that existed during the past year.

‘Average Days on Market until Sale’ stood at 279 (December 2009), a further deterioration from 2008 which had 212 days.

‘Inventory of Homes for Sale’ at the end of January 2010 was 21 which is surprisingly 31% less than the inventory at the end of January 2009.

Please take into consideration that the Afton area is a smaller reporting market place, so even a smaller change in a real estate sales can have a drastic influence on statistics. Thus, whether all of those numbers are pointing to the housing market that has dropped down sufficiently enough in this area and is now ready to rebound, still stands to be seen in the coming month’s numbers. So, stay tuned.

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An indication of the country’s overall economy, home listings were up 19.7 percent over listings in 2008. According to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, 66 homes were listed in 2008 in Hennepin County while 79 were listed there in 2009. The increased listings alone are not necessarily a negative indicator. But, home sales were down 9.1 percent with 55 homes being sold in 2008 and 50 sold in 2009. What does the combination of those factors mean to home shoppers? Homes in Bloomington, MN are likely to be on sale with reduced prices and motivated sellers.

Some homes are selling on the minnesota mls, likely to buyers motivated by an $8,000 tax credit offered by the federal government through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The credit, available to first-time homebuyers as a result of a housing market stimulus package, was due to sunset on Nov. 30, 2009. Before the tax credit expired, Congress raced to extend the credit (with the available amount reduced to $6,500) and expanded its benefits to include repeat buyers too. National Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist Lawrence Yun helped champion the tax credit through Congress and attributes improvements in the real estate market to the plan that motivated buyers to move.

Homes appear to have sold faster in 2009 compared to 2008 in Bloomington, MN and Hennepin County. In 2008, homes were remaining on the market an average of 146 days before they sold. In 2009 they are reported to have sold 16.7 percent faster with homes for sale on the market an average of only 122 days.

By the end of 2008, there were 321 single-family detached homes on the market for sale. By the end of 2009, there were 265 such homes on the market. That doesn’t necessarily mean these homes were sold, some may have simply fallen into expired listings and others may have been removed from the market for other reasons. The townhouse-condo inventory was down slightly in 2009 as well with 165 inventoried in 2009 and 172 inventoried in 2008.

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What is a short sale?

A special arrangement between the seller of a property and the lender on the mortgage of the property agree for the property to be sold for less than what the seller owes to the lender. Short sales allow borrowers to avoid the adverse consequences of a “foreclosure” on their credit report. Short sales are a better alternative for mortgage lenders because in lieu of foreclosure, there is less of a financial loss to the lending institution.

In December 2009, what were the short sale numbers for the Twin Cities?

There were 3,934 properties listed as short sales in the Twin Cities in December 2009. The number of short sales was double the amount of foreclosures (1,799) and nearly 30% of all “traditional properties” (i.e., properties not considered a foreclosure or short sale) listed in December. At nearly six months, the average number of days a short sale was listed in December 2009 was 177 days, two more months than it took a foreclosure or “traditional” property to sell. When a short sale did sell, the sellers only received 86.5% of their original list price, in comparison to “traditional” properties receiving 92.8% of the list price and foreclosures receiving 97.6%.

While the concept of a short sale is easy to understand, the process of purchasing a short sale property can be a long process that may become complicated when a seller accepts your offer, but the lender rejects it. Working with a real estate professional is a great idea, however, not all real estate agents are familiar with the intricacies of mn short sales and may even hurt your chances of a successful closing.

If you’re a minnesota first time homebuyer and you’re not in a rush to move-in today, a property listed as a short sale may be just the right home for you. With the know-how of one of our many experienced agents, you could find the home of your dreams at a great price and without all the headaches of attempting to purchase a short sale yourself!

On The Minnesota Real Estate Team we’ve got agents that have listed and closed short sale properties, helping buyers and sellers alike successfully move to the next adventure in their lives!

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Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota with an estimated population of 390,000. In association with St. Paul, Minneapolis is ranked as the 13th largest urban area in the United States. With a great arts scene featuring music, theater, visual arts, dance and literature, Minneapolis has been lauded as the “most literate city in America.” While many neighborhoods compromise Minneapolis, today we’re examining housing figures from December 2008 to December 2009 and looking at year-to-date information for Minneapolis as a whole.

In December 2008 Minneapolis had 1,901 homes on market, 555 were new listings. A year later there were 27.4% fewer homes being listed with only 1,380 properties and 446 were new listings, down 19.6% from the previous year. Townhouse and condo units also saw a 20.8% slip between December 2008’s 1,065 units and December 2009’s 844 units. This change for new market listings follows the year-to-date trend: 11,052 in 2008 down to 9,785 in 2009.

Closed sales for properties in December 2009 were also down, but the number of closing for the year-to-date did see an increase. In December ‘08 and year-end of 2008, the numbers of closed sales were 398 and 5,293 respectively. Closed sales for December ‘09 fell 24.9% to 299 with the year-to-date at 5,886 closings, a positive 11.2% change over the previous year.

The average sales price of a home for December 2008 to December 2009 increased from $157,425 in 2008 to $177,515. The average sales price for the year-to-date decreased 12.7% from $209,824 to $183,265 in 2008 and 2009 respectively. While looking at the median sales price for December 2009 ($134,900) and the year-to-date ($150,000), its apparent that homes with a lower sales price are comprising a greater percent of the sales for Minneapolis.

The average number of days a home was on the market fell 12.5% from 127 days in December 2008 to 111 days in December 2009, which mimicked the year-to-date change, 12.6% to 112 days in 2009. The percent of sellers receiving the original list price increased 6.6% from December 2008’s 89.8% to 95.6% in 2009. For the year-to-date in 2009, 94.7% percent of sellers in Minneapolis received the original listing price (not accounting for previous listing prices), which rose by nearly four-percent.

The city of Minneapolis has a neighborhood for every price range and life you’d like to live. If you’re not sure where to look, let the Minnesota Real Estate Team help guide your journey as a buyer, seller, or both! If you’re looking to purchase a home and don’t know where to start, The Minnesota Real Estate Team can help you with all types of searching from properties, some of which are part of the mls mn. Those only licensed real estate agents have access to the actual MLS, our team is happy to help you with all of your buying and selling needs here in Minneapolis, MN.

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As a buyer in today’s market, realize that more than ever, you need a top, top buyer’s agent to help you navigate through a short sale real estate transaction. We are finding timelines for these transactions vary. However, the general consensus is that if you need to be moved in by a certain timeline, offering on a short sale may not be your best option.

Moving into 2010, we have recently been seeing some of the larger national banks to have speeded up the approval process on short sales. However, this is not happening consistently across the board.

As a seller, if you are experiencing difficulties in making your mortgage payments, please realize that you do have options. Wherever your home may be located here in Minnesota or Wisconsin, we have an agent on our team who can help.

Short sales often times can be a frustrating real estate transaction for a buyer and buyer’s agent. However, often times a buyer is able to negotiate a discount on the property for sale.

Please don’t hesitate to contact our team if we can help with any of your short sale buying or selling needs here in MN. There is never any rush or obligation when working with our team.

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Last weekend on The Minnesota Real Estate Show, we discussed the “shadow inventory” of bank owned homes that appear to be coming onto the market here in 2010.

How and when this will take place remains to be seen.  Clearly however the number of foreclosures that have hit the MN MLS in recent weeks and months has dropped significantly. This has certainly helped existing homeowners who are competing against these bank owned homes for sale.

Buyers at price points $250,000 and under in many parts of Minneapolis and the Twin Cities area are finding a lack of homes to choose from. This of course is creating multiple offer situations and a buying rush.

Now that the tax credit has been extended for first time home buyers, and also a $6500 tax credit being extended to existing homeowners, I really believe that our local market will continue to see and a slow steady uptick in pending sales.

Lastly, a brief congratulations to The Minnesota Real Estate Team. We just found out that we are currently the #3 ranked REMAX team in the United States for 2009 closed sales (through October).

The Minnesota Real Estate Show is now moving to Saturdays, 12-1 PM on KTLK, 100.3 FM. Call in with any and all of your real estate related questions!

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Rest easier knowing that there is help for you. With The Minnesota Real Estate Team, we take great pride in helping sellers who are facing a “short sale” situation. Foreclosure is certainly not the only option for you.

On our team, we have a number of top, top short sale listing agents: Rob Reinke, Jesse Grumdahl, Mary Alice Short, Bernie Borschke all have successfull closed numerous short sales. If your home, condo, townhome, or multifamily property is in Minneapolis, St Paul, or throughout the state of Minnesota and Wisconsin, we can certainly help out.

Please don’t hesitate to email us today if you are facing a short sale situation and you are not sure which direction to turn. Please know we respect each and every client’s privacy greatly.

We are certainly here to help out. Please call 952-223-1150 or email Request@MnRealEstateTeam.com today to inquire how The Minnesota Real Estate Team, the #1 Real Estate Team in Minnesota, can help out with your short sale situation.

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On August 13th, 6:30-8 PM, The Minnesota Home Loan Partners and Steve Howe on our team will be going over anything and everything buyers need to know about buying their first home in MN.

We have this free class each and every month at 436 Gateway Blvd, Burnsville, MN.

As a first time home buyer, it is of course crucial to realize that the $8000 tax credit will expire as of November 30th. This does not need you need to rush to make a decision of course. But if you do have any plans whatsoever on purchasing your first home this year, stop on out to our free monthly seminar.

We will be covering the various financing programs in regards to down payment assistance, all sorts of first time home buyer tips, as well as a question and answer session where you can ask and all questions that you may have.

Questions on your credit score, how that is determined and how that can influence your interest rate? We will cover this. Questions on how to write an offer, find a top real estate agent, what you need to do to qualify for a loan? We will cover all of these items as well!

For more info on this seminar or to sign up, email Request@MnRealEstateTeam.com or call 952-223-1150. We are here to help!

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In addition, there are a number of great down payment assistance programs available to first time buyers.  Through many different state, local, county, and city programs buyers can receive down payment assistance. Our team works with The Minnesota Home Loan Parters who specialize in first time home buying financing options.

We also offer a free Minnesota First Time Home Buyer Class each month. At 436 Gateway Blvd in Burnsville, our team covers many of the various questions that first time buyers have:

1. What types of financing options and programs are availabe for first time buyers?

2. How does the $8000 tax credit really work?

3. When do I need to puchase a home in order to receive the $8000 tax credit?

We go over these questions and of course much, much more.

With interest rates historically low, and many foreclosure and short sale properties “on sale” here in Minneapolis and the Minnesota Real Estate Market as a whole, first time home buyers are seeing an outstanding buying opportunity.

If you have interest in learning more about this first time buyer seminar, please give us a call today at 952-223-1150 or send us an email at Request@MnRealEstateTeam.com

The Minnesota Real Estate Team has been the #1 REMAX team from 2006 through today. We take great pride in helping first time buyers at THEIR pace. We look forward to helping you.

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The Minnesota Real Estate Team finished as the top Minnesota team and the #21 real estate team in the United States in closed transactions for 2008, with 452 homes sold. http://online.wsj.com/ad/top100teamsides.html 

The team also finished as the only Minnesota team to make the Top 100 teams in “Sales volume.” Our team finished 80th.  http://online.wsj.com/ad/top100teamvolume.html

We continue to take great pride in our approach on helping buyers and sellers with their real estate transactions here in Minnesota and Wisconsin…most importantly…helping you at YOUR own pace. With our team, there is never any timeline or rush you will feel working with one of our top agents.

Please don’t hesitate to call us today at 952-223-1150, to learn more about our:

1. Free monthly seminars – first time buyer, investment property, moving up in a down market

2. Our Guaranteeed Sale program

Or if you simply would like to chat with an agent over a cup of coffee in regards to your real estate situation.  And as always…the Java is on us

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