Twin Cities Housing Market Statistics November 2016

Here we are almost at year’s end and wrapping up on the Twin Cities Housing Market that tells one consistent story. It’s about fewer and fewer homes for sale spending a shorter time on the market and selling for higher prices.  A market that favors the seller has been the dominant theme throughout this year. A deeper dive into the numbers for November give us a clear picture of the market trend.

Prices of homes continue on an upward trajectory with a 5.8% increase in the median sales price over last year. Closed sales topped out at a 25.2% increase and inventory dropped a whopping 22.8%. Due to volatility in financial markets responding to the results of the presidential election, the long awaited increase in interest rates happened before the expected Fed increase of last week, which boosted the mortgage interest rate in the Twin Cities to 4.25% with the expectation that rates will continue their upward climb in 2017.

While employment numbers and job creation have remained strong since August 2015, the long-term indicators of what effect the new administration will have on the housing market remain someone cloudy. With a raise in rates, we might very likely see a decrease in first time home buyers that will be able to purchase a home, which may result in a more balanced market in the coming year.

...