The Minneapolis real estate market surely is seeing some positive signs here in the last few months. Less and less homes have been coming onto the market, more properties are going pending, and the overall inventory of homes for sale has been declining.

Over the last few months, trends show that new listings coming onto the market here in the Twin Cities have continually decreased. The increase in pending sales and decline in overall listing inventory has also been steadier compared to last year. In the previous year, new listings coming onto the market had varied significantly, from 1700 to 2100 and down to 1600 all in one month’s time!  Typically, the winter months are slower with a smaller number of homes for sale and pending sales, and each year the real estate market peaks in the summer months.  Here in our market, pending sales are also on a decline for the last few months. However, they have certainly increased over last year’s numbers. Last week, pending sales were up 74.5% over Thanksgiving week from 2007, and almost every week for the last 3 months, with an exception of one, we had an increase over last year. Current inventory of homes for sale in the Minneapolis and St Paul metro area is 27,733.  Looking at overall trends of inventory is quite interesting. This year and last have almost the exact same “slope” throughout the year; however this year’s inventory is consistently 10% lower than last.  Looking at 2004 through 2008, each year, the inventory of total homes for sale gets progressively higher going from an average of around 17,000 in 2004, all the way to an average of around 30,000 in 2008.

Other interesting trends: the days on market until sale have started to decline, being the highest at the start of 2008 at about 165 days, and now at the close of 2008, the average days on market are down to 140. Still high but promising to see that trend occurring.  In addition, the current supply of homes is 12.06 houses per buyer.

If you are a buyer here in the Minneapolis area, there has almost never been a better time.  Sellers, remember price and condition remain paramount in our real estate marketplace.

Have you ever considered the idea of living in a condo or a loft in downtown Minneapolis? I know often times my wife and I have mentioned how much we would like living downtown. It may seem obvious to some, but in today’s blog post, I wanted to take a look at some of the positives and negatives that may be associated with downtown loft and condo living.

On a positive side, most of the lofts and condos in Minneapolis are certainly updated and trendy. We’re talking new fixtures, top of the line appliances, newer countertops. Really overall, you are looking a property with a lot of “new” and trendy. Compared to that 1950s rambler in Golden Valley you are living in, you are probably dealing with less maintenance with your loft.  In addition, there is the night life aspect. Perhaps you and your significant other enjoy heading downtown to listen to the Minnesota Orchestra? Maybe you like going over to the Fine Line Café to listen to the latest band here in the Twin Cities? Imagine how convenient it would be to have short five minute drive over to that entertainment or sporting event.

Within each of these outstanding buildings, you will find various amenities. The joys of having your own workout room or club right in your building! No more bundling up and driving a few miles over to the health club!!

On the other hand, parking may be an issue. Most of the various buildings in and around the city have parking within, but be sure to know how many parking spaces are offered with the property you may be looking to purchase. More often than not, it does clearly list how many spaces are included on the MLS.  In addition, forget taking your pooch right outside into your backyard at your nice rambler out in Bloomington.  Many buildings do in fact accept pets, however realize it could be a hike just to take Spot outside.

And of course there are the association fees with a condo. As a real estate buyer in today’s market, be sure you know what your association fee includes and what it does not include.

In conclusion, there is certainly no “one size fits all” when it comes to this type of decision. But right now, if you like what this lifestyle does in fact offer, there are a number of outstanding lofts, condos for sale in Minneapolis for buyers to choose from!

We are slowly but surely starting to get more good news for the Minneapolis and St Paul real estate markets! This week’s “weekly market activity report” just came out and it does indeed have good news. When looking at the last 20 weeks alone, pending sales in 2008 have been higher than the same week in 2007. Common sense tells us, more pending sales is surely a great sign indeed for our local real estate market.

There were 1,315 new listings that went onto the MLS here last week. This was a 9% decline compared to last year at this exact same time.  Pending sales did in fact rise significantly, with 649 properties receiving an accepted purchase agreement this week. This is an increase of 19.1% compared to last year at this exact same time. The overall inventory of homes for sale here in the Minneapolis real estate market is down 9%, with 29,365 properties currently for sale on MLS.

The average market time for a property here in the Twin Cities is at 141 days, and the percent of original list price received at the time of sale is down to 91.3%. This is down 1.9% compared to 2007 at the exact same time.

Lastly, there are currently 10.72 houses on the market per one buyer. This too is down 13.9% compared to last year.

Overall, if you are a home buyer here in the Minneapolis and St Paul markets, realize that the supply of homes for sale is surely decreasing. It is still a very strong buyer’s market here, but these numbers are in fact showing that we may have “hit the bottom.”  With more pending sales each week, the overall supply of homes shrinking, and less new listings coming onto the market, we are moving back in the direction of a balanced marketplace.

Let’s take a look at the activity we are seeing in and around the downtown Minneapolis real estate market. As we know, the Twin Cities as a whole remains a very strong buyer’s market. In downtown Minneapolis, there continues to be a great number of condos and lofts for sale.

Comparing October of 2007 to October of 2008. there has been a drop of 40.6% in new listings that have gone onto the MLS. Year to date, downtown has seen 25.1% less new listings for sale.  As far as closed sales, October of 2008 saw 15% less activity, with the year to date numbers actually increasing by 3.1%. The average sales price for a property in downtown Minneapolis increased by 2.8% comparing October of 2008 to October of 2007. The average sales price of a property year to date rose from $312,773 to $330,163. This is a 5.6% year over year increase. The percent of original list price received at the time of sale is down only 1% year to date.

When looking at average market time for a property, it has increased 27.8% year to date, to 108 days.  The total number of townhomes and condos/lofts for sale is down 28.1% (comparing October of 2007 to October of 2008.) This is certainly good news indeed for this part of our market.

In general, if you are buyer looking for a condo or a loft in downtown Minneapolis, the buying market still remains very strong. You will find that supply of properties for sale on the MLS still remains high, however buyers are being afforded some outstanding choices.

Within our team, The Minnesota Real Estate Team, we have a couple agents who specialize in the downtown market. If you are looking for that special loft of condo, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

If you are a seller needing to sell, please let us know. Our team is here to help you market your property effectively in this market.

It’s that time again!  Let’s take a look at some market statistics here for real estate activity here in Minneapolis.

For the week ending October 25th, there were 1,558 new listings put onto the MLS. This is down 2% compared to last year at the exact same time.  There were 602 pendings, or properties that received accepted offers. This is up 17.1% compared to last year. And overall inventory levels are at 30,343. This is down 9.2% compared to last year at this time.

Overall, these are certainly good numbers for our local real estate market. With less homes coming on the market each week, and more homes moving towards a pending status, things are balancing out.  We are still in a very strong buyer’s market with over 30,000 homes on the MLS here in the Twin Cities, but it is slowly but surely improving.

On a quick sidenote, our team was very excited to learn we made the Wall Street Journals Top 200 Real Estate Professionals for 2007. We were the only team from any company in Minnesota to make this list.  What the WSJ does, is rank the Top 50 teams and inviduals by total volume as well as total number of closed transactions. We made the Top 50 for number of transactions closed.

As always, please feel free to email or call us at 952-223-1150. The Minnesota Real Estate Team is here to help with all of your real estate needs!

The end of September is already here, with Fall and cooler temperatures surely in the air. However, our local real estate market is still seeing a high level of buying activity.

For the week ending September 20th, there were 1,788 new listings put onto the MLS. This is down 5.2% from 2007 at this exact same time. Pending sales rose 42.8%, with 781 properties receiving an accepted purchase agreement.  The overall inventory level is at 31,384 listings, a 7.8% drop from 2007.

This certainly is very good news indeed for our Twin Cities real estate market. Over the last couple of months, we have consistently seen a decrease in new listings put on the market, a rise in pending sales, and the overall inventory shrinking.

We certainly are no where near a balanced market, however things certainly are moving in the right direction.

As a team, we have seen a large number of buyers taking advantage of this local market.  The team is on pace to close 500 transactions here in 2008 alone!

Call us today at 952-223-1150 to learn how The Minnesota Real Estate Team can help you with your next real estate purchase or sale!

As we move towards the middle of September, I wanted to take a look at some market statistics for the Twin Cities.  For the real estate week ending August 30th, there were 1,589 new listings that went onto the market. This is down 4.2% from last year at this exact same time. Pending sales increased by 51.3%, wth 965 properties accepting a purchase agreement. Total active listings for sale is at 31,624. This is down 8.6% from last year at the same time.

Currently, the average market time for a home in the Twin Cities metro area is 143 days. The supply demand ratio is at 9.29. This supply demand ratio is determined by comparing the number of homes for sale at the beginning of each month with the total number of pending sales for the month.  For comparison sake, the supply demand ratio was 12.26 in September of 2007.

In conclusion, things are most assuredly “looking up” for our local real estate market. With less new listings going on the market, an increase in weekly year over year pending sales, and overall inventory shrinking, our market is moving slowly but surely in the right direction.

Let’s take a look and see what is happening in our local real estate marketplace! This past week, the Twin Cities as a whole saw 1,865 new listings being put onto the market. This is down 19.8% compared to last year at the same time.  Pending sales were up by 2.2%, with 820 properties accepting offers.  The total inventory level in the Twin Cities is at 32,968 listings. This is down 5.7% compared to last year at the same time. Average days on market is at 146 right now for Minneapolis and St Paul.

We continue to see a trend here: fewer new listings, more pendings, and a smaller overall inventory level. This is encouraging news for homeowners here in Minnesota.  The market is still far from balanced, but we are definitely in the process of correcting.

Agents on The Minnesota Real Estate Team have found many buyers being in “multiple offer” situations, especially on a number of the REO listings here in the Twin Cities. It continues however to be a great time for buyers to buy!

Sellers who are needing to sell or buyers who need a top real estate agent: please contact us today at 952-223-1150. Our team is on pace to close 500 homes here in 2008. We take pride in helping each and every client the best way we know how.

Look for another Twin Cities real estate update in the coming weeks!