So for those who don't know, I have a brother that lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. I just recently read through this article and thought he would be interested in it. Hopefully, you all are, too!
Since March of 2010, median sales prices of the homes in the 13-county Twin Cities metro area fell 15.2 percent to $140,000 from a report recently released by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR). Last month, distressed properties (most of them foreclosures) made up 55% of the closed sales. Those closed sales fell 3.5%, the number of new listings coming onto the market fell 30.2%, and pending sales fell 17.6% year-over-year.
MAAR attributes these declines partly to the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit program that spurred sales in the Spring of 2010. Though the outlook may seem a tad dismal, the association showed a few positive signs on the road to recovery. The area has maintained strong corporate balance sheets, unemployment claims have slowed down, and there have been 13 months of solid job growth.
So what does this mean to the sellers in the area? They can expect their up-to-date home and on-time mortgage history to be compared with distressed, and more often cheaper, properties around them.
In the metro area, sellers (including distressed properties) received around 88.6% of the original asking price last month, and was on the market for an average of 152 days, a 17.8% rise year-over-year.According to recent comments from Realtors/Brokers in the Twin Cities, the fastest-selling properties are bank-owned because their pricing continues to be the lowest of all median prices. The slowest-selling properties are townhomes, attributed to the low demand and high supply.
Looking into the future, worries lay beyond the Twin Cities area to the rest of the country. Financing through the FHA is increasing as they raise the monthly mortgage insurance price, increasing interest rates seem to be looming, and the government is considering big changes to the mortgage market.
Optimistically speaking, however, there are many buyers now realizing they can own for less than rent, and that attractive prices are here to stay for a while.For those readers in the Twin Cities Area, including you, my dear brother, maybe it's time to start grabbing those deals. But then again, when was the last time you listened to advice from your older bro? =)
