Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Weekly Market Update: December 26, 2011

Another year is almost in the books, and you could sum it up as another "transition year" for the local housing market. There were ups and downs, with positive developments stunted by political paralysis, joblessness or other issues. Nonetheless, the housing sector took important strides forward. Armed with record low mortgage rates, buyers took to the streets and began snapping up excess housing supply off the market. Those sales gains have helped stabilize inventory levels and seller concessions alike. Many consumers are facing tighter household finances, so foreclosures and short sales have seen plenty of demand. While that's limited price gains in many areas, it's also hastened the eventual absorption of distressed properties.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending December 17:

• New Listings decreased 16.9% to 799
• Pending Sales increased 50.1% to 749
• Inventory decreased 23.6% to 19,066

For the month of November:

• Median Sales Price decreased 10.2% to $149,000
• Days on Market decreased 1.8% to 135
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 1.0% to 90.9%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 30.0% to 5.7

Source:  Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors

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