More Good News In Minneapolis Duplex Market

While the media continues to report disheartening news for the national housing market, the most recent data for the Minneapolis/St Paul real estate market again suggests there may be reasons for cautious optimism locally.

With their release of the Weekly Activity Report for the week ending June 27, MAAR reports that new listings for the week were down 18.9 percent from the same period last year. In fact, the total supply of listings is down 21.3 percent from 2008.

The number of pending sales for the week were also encouraging. The 1,121 propererties that received purchase agreements was a leap of 31 percent over last year.

On a broader scale, there are now just 4.9 homes available for sale for every buyer. That’s 32.6 percent lower than last year, and a number that hasn’t been seen since 2005.

In the multi-family market, pending duplex sales were up 25.7 percent from the comparable week in 2008. Of the properties that received purchase agreements, 91 percent were lender owned or mediated, with an average off market price of $109,742.

This figure once again represents an increase in the number of short and foreclosure sales from the 2008 mark. The duplexes that pended for the same week in 2008, meanwhile, averaged a sale price of $122,389.

The number of new listings for the last week in June, however, was down an incredible 34.9 percent from last year. As supply continues to decline, we may see price improvements in the near future.