Business & Tech

Apple Valley Home Sales Prices Make Big Rebound in April

The median home sales price in Apple Valley for April exceeded April 2011 by more than 42 percent.

In April, the median home sales price for the Twin Cities metro area was $163,000, up 12.4 percent from April 2011, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors has reported; this comes after March's year-over-year increase—the region's first since October 2010.

The 12.4 percent is the Twin Cities' largest year-over-year jump since January 2004. And the news in Apple Valley is also promising.

The median home sales price in continued its growth with gusto during April, finishing the month more than 42 percent above the median price in April of last year—$195,000 compared to $137,000.

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The median sales price for March this year was up 5.8 percent from the median sales price in March 2011—$140,737 compared to $133,000 a year ago. In February, it exceeded the February 2011 mark by nearly 20 percent ($151,700 compared to $126,500).

Closed sales saw a 32-percent boost this April over April 2011, with 78 this year compared to 59 last year.

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In both categories, the market is exceeding 2011 year-to-date.

Across the Twin Cities region, Realtors pointed to several other signs that the real estate market is bouncing back.

On average, homes sold in 135 days, down 14.9 percent from last April. Sellers received an average of 93.3 percent of their list price, up from 90.1 percent last April. Cash buyers made up 20.7 percent of all closed sales, down from 24.8 percent at this time in 2011.

"We're impressed with the accelerating improvements," said Andy Fazendin, MAAR’s president-elect. "High-quality, move-in-ready inventory is limited. Those waiting for falling prices will likely be disappointed."

The number of homes for sale has dropped for 15 consecutive months, down 29.2 percent from last year to 17,312 active listings—the lowest inventory reading for any month since January 2004. Months supply of inventory—the amount of time it would take to sell every home on the market--dropped 44 percent to 4.6 months, the lowest reading for any month since August 2005.

Foreclosures and short sales continue to decline as a percentage of real estate transactions. Traditional sales made up 57.1 percent of all closings and went for about 50 percent more than foreclosures, generating the strong gain in overall median sales price.


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