Not everyone is thrilled by increasing numbers, but what they represent in the Twin Cities housing market is nothing to worry for 108 minutes over. Two increases—pending sales and housing affordability—are indicating improvement in the local housing market.
There were 1,120 pending sales for the week ending May 2, a healthy 26.3 percent above last year at this time. The Housing Affordability Index, now at 219, is 45.5 percent above where it was a year ago.
Active listings continue to underwhelm at 26,450, a decrease of 19.5 percent from last year. The lower figure, coupled with increased sales, has in turn helped to create a Supply Demand Ratio of 5.02 for April—31 percent lower than last year. Combining this with the 24.5 percent drop in Months Supply of Inventory over the past year could speak to the amount of houses (and foreclosures) remaining on the market that are selling through.
We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but this could also usher in some new construction for the summer period. According to the Builders Association of the Twin Cities, there were 419 residential units permitted in April 2009, an increase of 43 percent over March 2009.
You don't have to be able to read hieroglyphics to see that within these numbers there could be some optimism found in what was once Lost.
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