Minneapolis Duplex Sales Go To The Movies

Remember the movie The Incredible Shrinking Woman?

After being exposed to a mix of household chemicals, the lead character, played by Lily Tomlin, inexplicably begins to shrink. This, of course, baffles everyone involved.

Kind of like the Twin Cities housing market.

Amid reports of a glut of foreclosures on the horizon, and an uptick in foreclosure notices, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtor’s Weekly Market Activity Report notes shrinkage.

For the week ending August 15, there were 25,765 active listings on the MLS; the least since 2005.

There were 1,630 new listings for the week; the fewest since 2002.

And, there were 1,026 signed purchase agreements; the most since 2005.

Over in the duplex and small multifamily market, new listings were down 42 percent from 2008. The percentage of those new listings that will involve a lender in the negotiations lost an inch as well, dropping 1.5 percent year over year.

Unfortunately, pending sales lost a little altitude also; experiencing a 35 percent decline week over week. While I can’t prove it statistically, I believe this may be a result of a lack of inventory for owner occupants to choose from.

While the average off market price for the week was a healthier $112,620, it still trails last years average sales price for the week which was $133,130.

The good news is the percentage of bank owned or lender mediated properties that left the market appears to be stabilizing; up just 1.7 percent over 2008.

We’ll hope for a growth spurt next week.