Twin Cities Housing Market Indicators Trending Up

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Home buyers and sellers in the Twin Cities metro helped make March a positive month for the local housing industry.  The Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® (MAAR), using data from the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. (RMLS), shows a number of increases in industry ranking categories.

The number of new listings, pending sales and closed sales all experienced positive gains from February to March.  New listings increased 39% last month from 7,165 to 9,991.  From a year-over-year perspective, new listings were up 27%.  Pending sales saw a 43% increase, rising from 3,527 in February to 5,051 in March; a 14% increase from March of 2009.  And closed sales, sitting at 2,157 in February, jumped 52% to 3,269 sales in March, making it the third consecutive month-over-month increase for pending sales.  

RE/MAX North Central's Director of Franchise Development, Greg Cecchettini, says while listings are up, inventory is down.  "Although the number of new listings increased significantly on a month to month basis, the normal seasonal increase in activity pushed along by the homebuyer tax credit has actually brought the overall inventory down from a year ago. The number of homes available per buyer in the market is at 4.39 homes. Two years ago, in April 2008, the Supply-Demand ratio was at 7.28 homes per buyer and last year was at 5.02."

MAAR also reports the number of active listings in the Twin Cities at the end of March saw another month-over-month increase; 25,420 homes were listed in March creating an 11% increase from February.  

In addition, the median sale price for homes sold in the Minneapolis metro went up 4% from February's $159,000 to $165,000 in March.  That's a year-over-year change of 7.1%.  

Cecchettini says the increase in median home prices is impressive.  "For the third month in a row, home prices in the Twin Cities 13-county metropolitan area showed a year-over-year increase. We haven't seen three consecutive months of progressively increasing year-over-year growth since June 2004.  Demand by first-time homebuyers taking advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit is a likely factor in this increase."

(All information is according to the Minneapolis Area Associates of REALTORS® (MAAR) based on data from the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc.)

About RE/MAX North Central

RE/MAX North Central is affiliated with RE/MAX International.  Since its inception in 1985, RE/MAX North Central has grown to nearly 200 offices with more than 2,100 sales associates throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, providing residential and commercial real estate as well as relocation and referral services.  

For more information, visit www.remax.com.

About MAAR

MAAR is the leading regional advocate and provider of information services and research on the real estate industry for brokers, real estate professionals and the public. MAAR serves the Twin Cities' 13-county metro area and western Wisconsin.

For more information, visit www.mplsrealtor.com.

SOURCE RE/MAX North Central