March Twin Cities Housing Market Review

The Twin Cities Housing Market Snapshot

Many consider March to be the kick-off month for the busiest Real Estate season, spring. The market experienced a slight cooling with pending and closed sales both down. Interest rates have climbed and been hovering around 4.5% which is the highest they have been since 2013. Buyers may be taking a breath, and holding back again to re-evaluate and rethink their strategy. They may be considering the options of paying more each month or settling for less house.

Still, days on the market continue to decline, homes are still being sold at asking price or above, and the median sale price up 9.8% over last year. Inventory of homes, however, continues to shrink. Inventory declined 26.1%. Sellers continue to play it coy with new listings also down 17.5%. These numbers seem to indicate that the slowdown in sales is more the result of low supply rather than a lack of enthusiasm on the demand side of the equation.

The good news is that April is looking better in terms of new listings. Although the numbers are still down over last year, they are improving. This is due in part to new construction with builders having more confidence on a good return on their investment.

Let’s take a deeper dive at the month of March 2018 real estate market stats in comparison to the same time last year. *

Twin Cities Market data for March 2018

• new listings down -17.5%
• pending sales down -12.2%
• closed sale down -10.3%
• days on the market until sale was 57, down -21.9%
• inventory of homes for sale down -26.1%
• month’s supply of inventory down -22.7%      
• median sale price up 9.8% to $258,000
• percent of original list price received up 1.1%

 12-Month Rolling Data from April 2017 through March 2018

• pending sales down -2.0%
• overall median sales price up 7.1%
• price range with the largest gain in  sales was the $1,000,001+, up 18.1%
• the property type with the largest price gain was townhomes up 8.9%
• new construction outperformed previously owned properties in pending sales up 11.8%
• the quickest selling price range was $190,001 to $250,000 at 39 days

*Market data source Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. 

As always, thanks for taking the time to read my post. 

You know where to find me.

Joe Houghton