August Twin Cities Housing Market Episode – Another Rerun!
Most of us want to see a new episode of The Twin Cities Housing Saga but I am afraid August is another rerun. Over the course of the last 3 years the dominant theme of the housing story in Minneapolis-St. Paul is an ever-shrinking inventory and rising prices. Sellers have been in their glory days while buyers, facing a highly competitive marketplace, have struggled to close a deal month after month with a couple of variations. We’ll talk about these later in this post. Like most of the country, here in the Twin Cities metro inventories continue to shrink while prices continue to move upward. As long as the economy continues to grow and add jobs and interest rates remain low there is no reason to believe this market situation is going to change course anytime soon.
A deeper dive into the numbers for August of this year versus last year reveals new listings increased 7% while the inventory of homes available for sale fell 16.7% from 15,137 in 2016 to 12,206 this year. The month's supply of inventory remained at 2.5. but compared to last year, it dropped 16.7%. Lucky buyers in the metro successfully purchased 6513 homes but they were not quite as fortunate as buyers in August of last year when 6,606 home sales closed. Additionally, this year buyers paid 6.8% more when you compare median sales prices in the Twin Cities last August. 
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Real Estate Agents Love Long Lake, MN
The tiny but charming community of Long Lake is a just west of Wayzata nestled along the south shore of Long Lake. Real Estate has never been so sought after if the Lake Minnetonka Area.
What the Best Realtors in Long Lake MN know
1. Easy Access to Downtown Minneapolis
Want to attend a concert at Orchestra Hall or attend an event at Target Center? Just hop on Interstate 12/394 and head west 17 miles to downtown Minneapolis. Perhaps you want to attend the Uptown Art Fair or a concert at the Lake Harriet Band Shell. No problem because it only takes 20 minutes or a 17-mile ride to get to Uptown from the City of Long Lake. When you buy Real Estate in Long Lake you get the small town feel and community with the big city conveniences.
2. Parks and Recreation in Long Lake are Great
Long Lake Minnesota has 4 public parks offering a variety of options for recreation. Nelson Lakeside Park on Long Lake features a beach for swimming, a playground and picnic facilities including a shelter with tables and grills that may be reserved by Long Lake residents. There is also a fishing pier and a boat launch. Holbrook Park boasts a ball field with bleacher seating in summer and a hockey/ice skating rink with a warming house to enjoy when winter arrives. A picnic shelter is available and can be reserved for those summer family gatherings.
Care for a game of tennis or to shoot some hoops, then head over to Hardin Park. Since this park also has a playground,...
Exactly what is a Short Sale?
What is a Short Sale? A short sale occurs when the sale of a property does not bring the seller enough money to pay what is owed to the lien holder. When the sale falls short of the amount owed on the mortgage, the bank must agree to release the homeowner of any debt that otherwise may have been incurred. Sounds simple but it can be complicated to execute. Making a short sale purchase can be a long and drawn out process. Sometimes the outcomes are well worth the roller-coaster ride of emotions. Other times they can be a huge disappointment.
Buying a short sale in MN
Whether you are a buyer or a seller involved in a short sale the best way to handle the process is to work with a professional, ethical and honest Realtor who has experience dealing with short sales and is a certified short sale and foreclosure resource. A Realtor that has not taken the time to be trained, educated and certified to sell distressed properties will not have the energy, knowledge and skill necessary to pull off a successful short sale.
Short Sale in MN vs Foreclosure in MN
A short sale can be one of the best ways for a homeowner to get out of a home that is in an upside-down mortgage situation because it will not completely destroy their credit. The average credit score decline for a homeowner that goes through a successful short sale is 50 points. The average credit score for a homeowner that goes through a foreclosure is 250 points.
Help with a Short Sale...
Selling Your Twin Cities Home
Although the spring and summer months are traditionally considered the optimum time to buy and sell a home, did you know that the second-best season to Sell your Twin Cities home is the fall? Historically, if we assume normal market conditions, like the air on a crisp fall day, both prices and buyer activity tend to cool off. But as we know by now, this is not a balanced housing market but rather a red-hot housing situation that favors sellers in a big way. Inventory of homes for sale and days on the market continue their downward descent while on the other side of the coin median sale prices continue their climb to new heights.
Let’s explore the current market conditions which support a strong fall housing market for the Twin Cities which make a good argument for selling now.
Twin Cities Real Estate Data
According to the Minneapolis Association of Realtors, the week ending September 9th found inventory decreased 16.5% to 12,587 units for sale with new listings down 3.1% as well. However, pending sales were higher than the same 
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