The bigger Picture

The number of homes for sale in the Twin Cities metro area have declined, according to a report from the Minnesota Association of Realtors.

"In May 2008, there were 9,436 new listings, down a healthy 16.2 percent from May 2007. Traditional, non-lender-mediated new listings (excluding foreclosures and short sales) were down 31.5 percent for the same time period comparison from 10,349 in May 2007 to only 7,092 in May 2008. There were a total of 4,418 pending sales in May, down 7.6 percent from one year ago, a much smaller percentage decline than seen in new listings.

                    "Not only have the number of homes for sale declined, but buyer demand is now showing some positive signs of leveling out," said Kevin Knudsen, MAAR President.                    

The May median sales price of $205,000 is a slight uptick from last month, but down 9.9 percent from a year ago. Lender-mediated properties had a median sales price of $156,250—down 8.0 percent from last May—while traditional properties had a median sales price of $226,000, a decline of only 3.8 percent."

See the complete news release: Homes for Sale Show the First Decline in years

In St. Paul the number of homes on the market has decreased since May of 2007, when I reported that there were 3785 single family homes on the market.  In May of 2008, there were 3624 homes on the market.

There has been a slight uptick in prices but I don’t think it is significant enough to comment on.  When prices go up or remain stable for a few months in a row that will be significant.

When we generate these numbers and make statements about the market we are comparing the current market to the best market we ever had.  We should all keep that in mind when we write commentary or analyze today’s real estate market.

Also see Alex Stenback’s most excellent post on "Behind The Mortgage" about how the new regulations we have here in Minnesota are affecting the mortgage industry.