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Minneapolis Duplex Market Heads For The Basement

July 20th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

I’m starting to feel like the rain is ganging up on us.

The summer has been full of tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm watches that have sent us all scrambling for the basement or at least the comfort of a brightly lit television radar screen. And there’s also been the turbulence of the Minneapolis/St Paul duplex market.

For the week ending July 10, just 9 duplex home owners received and accepted purchase agreements. This was a drop of 65 percent from the number of pended properties for the same week last year.

The average off market price of $176,960 was $29,410 higher than the sold price for last year, and 33 percent of them were offered by traditional sellers.

The other bit of good news was the number of new duplex and multi-family property listings was down 30 percent from last year.

In the single family market, the 545 signed purchase agreements for the week represented a 45.9 percent year-over-year drop.

While the total number of new single family home listings were down 17.4 percent, total inventory continues to grow due to slow buyer demand.

As always, increased inventory results in a shift toward a buyer’s market, which we are in fact seeing. There are currently 7.44 houses on the market for each buyer this month. Last July, there were just 5.06 per buyer.

Let’s hope for sun.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Minneapolis Duplex Market Cause Oxygen Deprivation

July 13th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

Ever have a panic attack?

You know– the one’s where you can’t breathe or think?

I had one when I compiled the market statistics for Minneapolis and St Paul duplex sales for the week ending June 26, 2010.

A paltry 12 duplexes received purchase agreements. Twelve. Out of  723 active small multi-family listings in the Twin Cities metro area.

That’s down 37.5 percent from one year ago.

How did I get the color back in my face?

By finding the good news. 

Traditional sellers accounted for 33 percent of the week’s duplex sales. Last year, they were just 9 percent of the market.

The average price the dozen left the active duplex market at was $180,808. Last year, the sold average for the week was $113,138.

And, while there were 42 new listings this year, that’s down from last year’s 57.  Fifty percent of the new listings will not require a bank to be involved in any negotiations of a purchase agreement. Last year, just 22.8 percent were that hassle-free.

The single family housing market had 47.6 percent fewer pending sales for the week, with 6.5 percent fewer new listings than the year before.

With decreasing demand and growing inventory, it’s no surprise that the 27,526 homes presently on the market is 3.2 percent more than last year. There are now 7.44 homes available for every buyer actively in the market.

I think I need to go meditate.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Minneapolis Duplex Sales A Fable

June 15th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

Remember the Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare?

You know the one; where the rabbit challenges all the other animals in the forest to a race, and the only one to take him up on it is the tortoise.

Of course the hare finds this laughable and gets so far ahead he decides to stop and take a nap. The tortoise, meanwhile, just keeps plodding along and ends up winning the race.

Well, let’s hope the Minneapolis and St Paul duplex market is like the tortoise because the numbers for the week ending June 5 (which include much of Memorial Day weekend) sure are slow.

According to MAAR, pending single family home sales wer 57 percent behind that seen one year ago. Of course, Memorial Day fell a week earlier in 2009, so that may have had some effect.

Perhaps a more accurate commentary is the total number of purchase agreements signed for the week dropped for the fifth week in a row.

The single family home market has also seen a gradual year-over-year market share increase of lender-mediated inventory. This year, that market comprises 43.3 percent of the inventory on the MLS, compared to 37.8 percent last year.

The week saw equal lumbering along in the duplex and small multi-family market. Pended sales were down week-over-week by what we hope is a holiday-influenced 52.9 percent. The average off market price for these duplexes was $115,200; a number that significantly trails the $129,456 seen for the same week in 2009.

Of the inventory that pended for the week, just 12.5 percent was being sold by a traditional seller. This is up slightly from the 11.76 percent mark a year earlier.

Traditional sellers, did, however, continue to hold their own in new inventory offerings; with 50 percent of the listings.  They contributed 47.44 percent one year ago.

If Aesop was right and slow and steady do win the race, then we’ve got some hope. After all, we’ve got the slow part of the equation down. Let’s hope next week brings steady.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Minneapolis Named Best Place To Buy

June 7th, 2010 categories: Buying A Duplex, Twin Cities Real Est

Last week the web site Trulia.com ranked Minneapolis/St Paul number one on its list of America’s Top Ten Cities To Buy Vs. Rent.

To come up with their rankings, Trulia took the average list price of properties on the MLS and divided it by the average rent on a 2 bedroom apartment, duplex, condo or townhouse in the largest 50 markets in the country.

In other words, according to Trulia’s co-founder and CEO Pete Flint, “Home sellers in hard hit areas are forced to lower their prices to compete with all the foreclosures on the market. As a result, these unattainable markets are so affordable it makes better financial sense to buy than rent.”

With the expiration of the first time and repeat buyer tax credits at the end of April, there is much less competition for the good properties in the market.

Call me. It’s a great time to buy.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Duplex Tax Credits Enter The Home Stretch

April 27th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

As we race like Kentucky Derby entries toward the finish of the first time and repeat home buyer tax credits, word came from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors  that new listings may be the fastest horses racing, not pending sales.

For the week ending April 17, new listings finished 21.9 percent ahead of the same week last year.

Pending sales, on the other hand, also grew but at a pace neck and neck with the 2009 statistics. In the end, however, 2010 nosed out 2009 by just 1.8 percent.

Duplex sales had a close year-over-year finish as well, with pending sales for the week finishing 11.5 percent ahead of last year’s.

The average off-market price for the week was also a nose ahead, crossing the wire at $124,789 compared to $121,742 for the same week last year. Of those listings that left the market, just 23 percent were offered by traditional sellers.

New listings for the week were the real winners; leading last year by 40.5 percent. Of that new inventory, 52.54 percent were offered by traditional sellers compared to last year’s 45.2 percent.

After the tax credit race ends on Friday, let’s hope the real estate market doesn’t come up lame.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Traditional Minneapolis Sellers Take It To The Banks

March 17th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

If the Minneapolis duplex market were a prize fight the week ending March 6, 2010, traditional sellers would have adminiistered a ninth round pummeling to lender owned and mediated sales.

Of the duplex owners that received and accepted purchase agreements, 44.83 percent were traditional sellers. By traditional sellers, I mean people with names; as opposed to corporations.

These traditional sellers helped boost the average off-market price for the week to $156,293. This shatters last year’s average for the same week of $78,022; a week in which 100 percent of the pended properties were offered or negotiated by lenders.

As if to send the banks back to their corner for smelling salts, traditional sellers were also responsible for 59.46 percent of the new inventory on the market. Last year, the banks had mom and pop sellers in a corner, where they could only produce 24.5 percent of the new listings.

Unfortunately, the single family market didn’t fare as well. New listings were up 24.6 percent from a year ago, while pended home sales were down 6.9 percent. In fact, in the first quarter of the year, pending sales are up just 2 percent from their mark during the same stretch in 2009.

Nonetheless, bravo to the traditional duplex sellers for having the courage to take on the market. Maybe we’re not down for the count yet after all.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Deadline Pushes Minneapolis Duplex Market

March 9th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

There are less than 60 days left to qualify for either the first time home buyer or repeat buyer tax credit.

That looming deadline may well have inspired the Twin Cities housing market’s 13.9 percent year-over-year jump in accepted offers for the week ending February 27.

While not as dramatic, the duplex and small multifamily property market also saw an increase in pended transactions; up 4.4 percent year-over-year.

Of the properties that pended, 19.46 percent were offered by traditional sellers; up from 11.6 percent for the same week in 2009.

While neither year posted particularly inspiring average off-market prices, the figure for the week in 2010 of $83,746, did nonetheless represent an increase of $805 over the year before.

The amount of new duplex inventory continued to trail last year’s mark, with just 45 properties coming on the market for the week. This represents a 30.7 percent drop from last year.

Of these new listings, 28.9 percent were offered by traditional sellers. While that’s a figure that appears thin, it is still more than twice as many as last year.

As the tax credit deadlines loom, let’s hope for continued good news.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Minneapolis Duplex Market Studies Itself In The Mirror

February 2nd, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors released its weekly activity report last night, and it turns out that January of 2009 and 2010 are almost mirror images of one another.

Pending sales and new listings are down a bit from last year, and there’s a little bit more inventory on the market, but, by en large, it’s a wash.

For the week ending January 23, there were 2.3 percent fewer signed single family purchase agreements than there were for the previous year.

In the duplex market, however, the reflection from year over year had a few ripples in it.

The number of signed purchase agreements for the week in 2010 was down 31.4 percent from the 2009 mark. Of those properties that did receive and accept offers, 12.5 percent were brought to the market by traditional sellers. This represennts an increase of 4 percent year over year.

The average off market price for the week was $95,177;  almost identical to 2009’s $95,371.

While the number of new listings to hit the market was virtually identical, this year traditional sellers were responsible for 40.35 percent of the new inventory. This is a stark contrast to last year’s market share of just 8.5 percent.

Hey, look at it this way. At least there aren’t any new wrinkles or gray hairs to contend with.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Minneapolis Duplexes Hibernate In Winter Too

January 5th, 2010 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

Whether it’s a single family home or duplex, new listings for the week ending December 26, 2009, appear to be in for a long winter’s nap.

MAAR reported today that the number of new listings dropped 18. 9 percent from the same week last year.

The number of new multi family listings was down 43.3 percent.

In all, the amount of inventory available for purchase is at its lowest mark since April, 2005. In fact, for the first time since 2005, there are less than 20,000 properties available on the market.

Pending sales, on the other hand, appeared to just be cat-napping.  The number of single family homes that received purchase agreements for the week was up 53.1 percent over last year.

Duplex and small multi family property pended transactions were up 30 percent. Of those that left the market, 15.39 percent were offered by traditional sellers. Last year, all of the pended properties involved lenders in the negotiations.

The good news is the average off market price for the week was $76,531.  This represents a significant wake up from last year’s $47,955.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Minneapolis Duplex Market A Stocking Stuffer

December 22nd, 2009 categories: Twin Cities Real Est

The Minneapolis duplex market was both naughty and nice the week ending December 12, 2009.

As a result, there were fewer presents under the Minneapolis duplex market Christmas tree. Pending sales were down 11.8 percent from their 2008 mark.

The good news is Santa left more expensive packages. Thebig and shiney average off market price of $112,980 made last year’s mark of $85,499 look like a lump of coal. Last year 91 percent of those solds involved a bank in the negotiations. This year, 90 percent did.

This price jump may be the result of ever-tightening inventory with the number of new listings week over week dropping by 34 percent. Of these, 26 percent of the weeks duplexes were offered by traditional sellers. This is a slightly more festive number than last year’s 15 percent.

In the single family market, the number of pended sales for the week was down 2.5 percent year over year. New listings were down as well.  The laws of supply and demand should eventually result in a higher average sales price.

While the news isn’t exactly the pony we asked Santa for, at least he didn’t skip the Minneapolis housing market entirely.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

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