Real Estate Recovery Continues Into New Year

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Continuing where it left off in 2012, the Twin Cities housing market is off to a promising start for the New Year, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) reported Tuesday.

By all key measures—median sales price, number of closed home sales and pending sales—housing activity in January is up compared to the same period a year ago, according to MAAR officials.

Traditional closed sales in January rose 41.8 percent over the same month last year, helping boost the Twin Cities’ year-over-year median sales price for 11 straight months. The median home price rose 14.3 percent to $160,000.

In Apple Valley, the median home sales price in January was $185,000, up 30.2 percent from the median of $142,050 in the same month last year.  The price per square foot was $91, up 11.5 percent from the $81 figure a year earlier.

Part of what's driving the price up is a paucity of homes for sale; in Apple Valley, there were 76 new homes listed last month, down 24 percent from the 100 homes that went on the market in January 2012. The total inventory of homes for sale in the city dropped from 248 in January 2012 to 153 last month.

Across the Twin Cities region:

• There were 2,797 closed home sales in January 2013, up 11 percent from January 2012. And there were 3,456 pending sales, a 13.3 percent increase over last year.
• Regional home inventory levels dropped 32.2 percent to 11,977 active listings, the lowest number for any month going back to January 2003.
• Months' supply of inventory fell 42 percent to 2.9 months. Figures below 4.0 months of supply point to an emerging seller's market.
• Homes sold in 107 days, on average, or 24.1 percent quicker than last January. Sellers received 93.5 percent of their list price, on average, up from 91.2 percent last year.

"Last year, traditional sellers re-entered the market in increasing numbers," MAAR President Andy Fazendin said in a statement. "With our limited inventory, that's led consumers to purchase more traditional properties, which sell for roughly 60 percent more than distressed properties," as foreclosures and short sales are known in the industry.

“A healing distressed segment facilitated recovery. Traditional homes comprised 65.9 percent of all new listings, up from 56.3 percent last January, and made up 57.1 percent of all closed sales compared to 44.8 percent last year. In other words, fewer low-priced foreclosures and short sales both entered and sold off the market.”

Added Emily Green, MAAR’s president elect: "It's as if we skipped the traditional winter slowdown. We expect to see buyer activity continue into the spring market."