Ask The Ouija Board: Is The Minneapolis Duplex Market Better?

I saw a Oujia board in the closet of a foreclosure I showed recently.  I should have gone right out while I was thinking of it and bought one.

It might help me make sense of the numbers for Twin Cities duplex sales in the Market Activity Report for the week ending August 8.

The number of bank-owned listings new to the market dropped 20 percent from the same stretch last year. Whether this is a reflection of a shift in the market, or last winter’s foreclosure moratorium is a mystery.

Overall, the number of new listings for the week was down 15 percent.

The number of properties that received purchase agreements for the week was up 29 percent over last year. Unfortunately, the average off market price dropped from $147, 210 to a meager $88,021.39.

Both year’s transactions consisted of 89 percent lender-mediated sales.

MAAR reports that the single family housing market saw a 9.5 percent drop in new inventory for the week, while there were 15.2 percent more purchase agreements signed.

A balanced market occurs when there is a 5 month supply of inventory available. Right now, we have a 7.2 month supply; down 31.4 percent from the 10.5 month supply seen at this time last year.

Will things be different next week?

Ask the Ouija. Yes? Or no?