The red line on the chart above shows the number of homes that were listed for sale through the Regional Multiple Listing Service (MLS) each week since the beginning of the year. The blue line shows how many homes had offers made on them during the same week. (Only offers that were accepted by the sellers are counted.)
Activity in the local market has been picking up. What I mean is that people are buying homes. There are still more homes being listed each week than are being sold each week but the total inventory of homes on the market in St. Paul is down from what it was at this time last year. Prices have gone down too. I will have some information about prices at the beginning of next week. Some say the market is improving. I am reluctant to make that statement becasue home sales always increase in the early spring and summer. I will say that this June looks better than last June did.
If your home is on the market and you did not get an offer on it in June you are not alone. I wish I could make a prediction about what housing prices will do in the next six months but I can’t, people ask me all the time. There are so many unknowns and real estate is local. Housing is part of a much bigger picture and is impacted by jobs, the price of gasoline, interest rates and a bunch of other factors.
For more numbers see: Local Market Conditions and Homes Prices.
I was in St. Paul a few months ago speaking at a conference and one topic was the declining market. I am from SW Florida and I can honestly say that if people can sustain this market for the next 5 years, they will get through one of the biggest economic tragedies since the great depression. Everywhere is hurting and to predetermine the future, as you are saying, is virtually impossible. Nice Post.