How long does it take to sell a home in the twin cities? It does vary by neighborhood and price range.
Here are some local absorption rates. The numbers will not tell you how long it would take to sell your house but they show how long it would take for all the homes on the market in your area to sell, based on how many homes got offers last month. It is a snap shot of the number of homes on the market in a given month, and a snap shot of how many are sold in a given month.
According to the Minneapolis Association of Realtors the over all absorption rate for the 13 county metro area is 7.79 months. This is lower than the 10 month absorption rate that was published last December but higher than we have seen around here for most of the past five years. Here are the absorption rates for some of our local markets:
West St. Paul – 5 months
Eagan – 6.9 months, heck let’s just call it 7 months.
South St. Paul – 7.30 Months
Mendota Heights – 7.6 Months
Saint Paul – 8.2 Months
As an overall average for the twin cities metro area sellers are getting 95% of their asking price, which is down from just a few months ago. What does this all mean? It means that there are more sellers than buyers right now. Some homes do sell quickly, because they are priced right.
I stole the toilet paper idea from David Smith, my blogging buddy who lives in the desert.
“Some homes do sell quickly, because they are priced right.”
As I thought, the agent has very little to do with the process, except to suggest a panicky, sky-is-falling price so that the house will move quickly.
Chamsky – Actually the sky is not falling. Studies show that when agents sell their own homes they get more money for them and that on average they are on the market longer. As an agent I get more involved than just setting the price. Most people want their homes to sell quickly, the numbers indicate that homes are staying on the market longer than most sellers are comfortable with. Sellers define quickly as 60 days or less. Home buyers are looking for value as they comparison shop in a market where there are seven homes on the market for each buyer.
I agree with you Teresa, most people do want their homes to sell quickly.
The homeowner’s motivation in selling is a key factor in determining the list price.
While there are times the sellers have no time frame in mind that they would like to be sold by, most often there is a reason that sparks them to list the property in the first place.
And in my experience, there is usually some sort of set date associated with achieving that goal.
Funny your comments are just how this market is working. The buyer thinks that everything is over priced and that sellers are evil, and the seller just knows that the value of their home is high.