Duplex Chick

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Sometimes when you’re falling down the side of a mountain, just holding ground is good. And that’s exactly what the Minneapolis duplex market did the week ending December 11.

For the week, 18 duplex, triplex and fourplex listings received acceptable purchase agreements; down from the 25 that did last year during the same stretch.

This year as in last, most of the pended transactions involved buyers, sellers and banks in the negotations, with just 17 percent being negotiated without lender involvement.

New listings held their ground as well, with 34 coming on the MLS in the week for both 2009 and 2010.

The average off-market price for the week, however, saw considerable erosion. This year the figure stood at $88,340 while last year it was $115,140.

In the single family home market, new inventory grew by 2.4 percent, contributing further to the 11.3 percent more homes on the market this year than last.

Meanwhile, pending single family home sales were down 3.7 percent year over year. While that isn’t good news, it isn’t the double digit avalanche we’ve seen in other weeks of the year.

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Sometimes the Minneapolis duplex market is a bit like walking down an icy sidewalk. You may not look gracefull or pretty while traversing it, but if you don’t fall down, that’s good enough.

And for the week ending December 4, the real estate market didn’t fall down.

Twenty-six duplex, triplex and fourplex listings received and accepted purchase agreements for the week; up one from the same week in 2009.

Of those transactions, 15.4 percent involved traditional sellers; down ever so slightly from last year’s 16 percent.

However, the average off-market price for the week of $111,894 slipped a bit from last year’s sold average of $117,452.

There were 38 new investment properties listed for the week, down one from last year. Of these, 36.8 percent were offered by traditional sellers; representing a nearly 5 percent decline of market share week over week.

Meanwhile, pending single family home sales actually got a bit of traction, climbing 10 percent from the same week last year. That mark represents the first year-over-year increase in 30 weeks.

The amount of newly listed single family homes also found a bit of balance, dropping 13.8 percent from last year. This represents the 11th consecutive week of inventory decline.

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I’m going to date myself here, but do you remember “Sybil”?

“Sybil” was a book/movie about a woman with more than 13 different personalities– all wildly different from each another.

Like the Minneapolis duplex market.

For example, during the week ending November 27, pending duplex sales dropped 35 percent from the same Thanksgiving holiday week last year.

However, 27 percent of this year’s transactions involved traditional sellers. Much like last year’s 24 percent.

Of course, the average price those properties left the market at, $180,980, shattered last year’s comparatively paltry$118,550.

In fact, the only duplex activity that seemed consistent and normal was the amount of new listings during the week: 21 this year and 22 for the seven days in 2009.

At least the single family home market was predictable. Buyer activity was down 5.5 percent from last year, but that’s been the running number the past few weeks.

The number of newly listed homes fell a similar amount from the 2009 holiday week; slowing 6.4 percent.

Kind of boring, but kind of nice.

Like Sybil.

When she was cured.

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Real estate transactions in the Twin Cities area were pretty bland the week ending November 20, 2010.

Pending single family home sales were down slightly; by 4.1 percent. There were 579 pended home sales over the 7 days; right at the approximately 600 transactions a week we’ve been averaging over the last six months.

The number of newly listed homes was down just 1.3 percent from the same week one year ago. And as we’ve seen in recent weeks, that leaves the number of active listings on the market at 9.6 percent less than were available last year.

In the duplex market, just 22 properties received purchase agreements. Of these, only 18.2 percent were offered by traditional sellers. Last year, the same week saw 30 duplexes receive purchase agreements, with 30 percent of those signatures belonging to traditional sellers.

The average off-market price for the week was $114,232. While this is down slightly from last year’s $115,002, it’s important to remember the 2009 figure is a sold price. This year’s mark is a pended price, which is equivalent to the last price the property was listed at before there was a purchase agreement accepted. Most likely, the sold price will be somewhat less than that.

Of the 26 new duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes on the MLS, 26.9 percent were being sold by traditional sellers. For the same week last year there were 47 new properties to choose from, with 46.8 percent that did not require the participation of a bank in the negotiations.

Not terribly exciting, not horribly disappointing.

We’ll take it.

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Since the April 30 expiration of the first time home buyer’s tax credit, the Minneapolis duplex market has acted like it was winter.

Sales slowed. New listings slowed. And, well, now that it actually is winter, the market behavior almost appears “normal” in its behavior.

Whatever that is.

This doesn’t mean that we’re back on track; just that we’re now in a time of year where this slowing is typical.

In the week ending November 13, 2010, twenty-nine duplex owners accepted offers on their properties. Just 27.6 percent of these transactions did not involve a bank in the negotiations.

While this represents a 28 percent decline in pended sales from the same week last year, the good news is that just 18.75 percent of last year’s transactions involved traditional sellers.

The average off-market price this year was $133,336, while for the same week last year the sold price was just $117,259. As always, pended prices are different from sold prices, so this apparent jump in value isn’t necessarily something to cheer about just yet.

The number of new duplexes to the market was also up; leaping past last year’s mark by 15 percent. Of these new listings, 57.9 percent were offered by traditional sellers; 9.4 percent more than last year.

Over in the single family home market, pended sales for the week were down 4.3 percent from year ago levels. The number of new listings also dropped slightly, decreasing 5.3 percent from last year.

Fewer single family home sales should ultimately help shrink the bloated inventory of homes, which is up 10.4 percent from last year’s levels.

This sort of thing is typical in November, which, I suppose, is cause for celebration

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During the week ending November 6, 2010, pending Minneapolis duplex sales apparently heard Christmas music in the stores and took an early holiday; plummeting 55.8 percent from their mark during the same week last year.

The percentage of pended listings offered by traditional sellers stayed roughly the same at 31.6 percent, the average off-market price of $121,952 hovered just above last year’s sold mark of $118,130, and the number of new listings for the week was down by just three units week over week.

In other words, while there was no significant uptick in traditional seller transactions, or in the amount of new listings, pending sales have dropped by half; which, if the trend continues, will ultimately increase the amount of inventory and put downward pressure on prices.

In the single family home market, the number of signed purchase agreements dropped 16 percent from their mark during the same week last year.

And while the number of single family homes available in the Twin Cities metro area remains 11.3 percent higher than it was one year ago, the rate of inventory increase appears to be slowing.

What does this mean? Right now, there are 11 homes on the market for every buyer who’s out there shopping. That’s the biggest selection available for home buyers since December 2008.

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It’s a tie.

Most of the time, (in sports anyway), that isn’t necessarily a good thing. But when it comes to the Minneapolis duplex market, it’s an improvement; like wearing one.

For the week ending October 30, 2010, 22 duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes received puchase agreements. Exactly that many received accepted offers for the same week one year ago.

Of those that left the active inventory this year, 18 percent were offered by traditional sellers. Last year,  27 percent were.

While this year’s average off-market price of $155,961 was up significantly from last year’s sold mark of $131,655, it’s important to keep two things in mind. First, the pended price is the number at which the property was last listed. Second, this year’s average was largely influenced by a pending sale on Summit Ave of $750,000. Without that single transaction, the off market average falls to $121,870.

The number of new duplex listings for the week dropped 22 percent from those that hit the market during the week in 2009. Of  these, 2.8 percent were listed by traditional sellers; down slightly from last year’s 44 percent. While a drop in supply will ultimately help prices, reductions of 1-2 percent aren’t significant enough to help.

Meanwhile, in the single family home market, inventory continued to swell; up 12 percent from the same time one year ago. While the weekly total was just .4 percent higher than the week last fall, a 29.9 percent drop in week-over-week pending sales has not kept up with new supply.

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I think all the Minneapolis duplex buyers were busy filling out absentee ballots the week ending October 23; because they sure weren’t out buying properties.

Just 18 duplexes received purchase agreements. Of those, two did not involve lenders in the negotations.

For the same week last year, 33 properties received offers, with seven of those being brought to the market by traditional sellers.

The number of new listings for the week was down as well, with 44 coming to the market; 12 fewer than did for the week last year. Of these, the percentage of traditional sellers dropped nearly 8 percent year over year; contributing  just 38 percent of the new inventory.

The week’s average off-market price of $96,336 was down $7000 from last year’s sold price. This is a number sure to shrink further when those properties move from pending to sold status.

The single family home market didn’t poll any better. The number of newly signed purchase agreements for the week were 34 percent less than last year.

New listings were down as well; trailing last year’s by 8.9 percent. This would be good news except that the amount of active inventory already on the market is already 11.5 percent higher than it was at this point last year.

I’m sure that next week when all of the “good” politicians have beaten the incumbants, everything will be different.

Sarcasm intended.

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The Minneapolis duplex market for the week ending October 16, 2010, was a bit like falling out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. We were a bit higher than last year’s 8000 feet; but the fall hurt just as much.

The number of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes for sale that received purchase agreements was 21. This is a drop of 16 percent from last year.

Of these, a third were brought to the market by traditional sellers. This is up 17 percent from last year.

At an average off-market price of $120,322; higher than last year’s average sold price of $111,912, the market almost appears as if it’s about to bounce. Trouble is, the average sold price right now is about 6 percent lower than the list price, making it likely prices are roughly the same.

The amount of new duplex inventory coming to the market continued to slow, with just 33 new opportunities presenting themselves for the week as compared with last year’s 42. Traditional sellers represented 45 percent of those new listings, compared with last year’s 36 percent showing.

Single family homes, meanwhile, continued to have fewer new listings year-over-year, with 2.1 percent fewer properties coming on the market than did last year.

However, the number of active MLS listings remains 11.3 percent greater than the same week in 2009. This is a direct result of the 39.2 percent decline in buyer activity from one year ago.

Next week, I hope somebody remembers to pack a parachute.

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Wake me. I must be dreaming.

Minneapolis duplex sales just went up.

For the week ending October 9, 2010, 29 duplexes pended on the Twin Cities MLS. That’s four more than did for the same week last year.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, I know. But when you convert it to percentages, that’s an increase of 17.2 percent.

Unfortunately, 76 percent of this year’s accepted purchase agreements for the week involved a bank in the negotiations; up 12 percent over the year before.

But there was still some flying and prize winning lottery tickets left in the dream. The number of new listings for the week was down 22.4 percent from last year’s mark, with traditional seller’s putting forth a whopping 53 percent of the weeks new inventory. Last year, just 37.93 percent of the new listings didn’t involve lenders in the negotiations.

The average off market price for the week was actually $7000 higher than last year’s sold price for the week as well; the first time that’s happened in nearly a year. Of course, it’s important to remember that the pended price is based on what the property was listed for and usually higher than the sold price in this market.

While this is likely a brief, pleasant dream, the nightmare over in the single family home sector continued. New listings were down just 4.1 percent from last year. That decline would be good news if there weren’t also 44.8 percent fewer pended sales than there were for the same week last year.

That drop, by the way, is the largest in 13 weeks.

In other words, don’t look for the monsters to get out of the closet any time soon.