Traditional Minneapolis Sellers Take It To The Banks

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.