Eden Prairie Goes #1

Eden Prairie was recently named, "Best Place to Live in America" by CNN's Money Magazine. This remarkable distinction is determined by a variety of factors including: average household income, test scores, employment rate, median home price, crime rate, public space, and more. The top spot returns to the Twin Cities metro after taking a year off. In 2008, Plymouth held the honor before giving way to Louisville, Colorado in 2009.

Here is a link to the full article.

-Michael

Number of Showings Down Over 50%

While it is always hard to estimate how many buyers are currently active in the market, one way is to examine the number of showings taking place on a group of listings compared to a similar group of listings one year prior. Analyzing showings on Re/Max Results listings for the months of March, April, and May we find that showings are down considerably from last year indicating there are significantly less buyers now than a year ago. March showed the smallest drop at 21% less while April reports 36% less showings than April 2009. The biggest drop-off was May which only had 42% of the showings that last May had, a 58% drop in buyers viewing properties.

The numbers do not translate exactly but the stats show that there are less buyers in the market now than one year ago. For sellers, this means that they have to price aggressively and show better than the competition to attract a smaller crop of potential buyers. For buyers, this means they have more choices and more leverage in negotiating. For the market as a whole, we could see downward pressure on prices if this trend continues through the summer.

-Michael

May Monthly Skinny

Here's a quick video on the Twin Cities housing market. April stats are in and there were several positive signs. The forecast is for a "mostly stable" housing market but a slow summer due to displaced demand (buyers that may have bought over the summer bought earlier to take advantage of the tax incentive).

For specific information on your neighborhood or areas of interest, contact us.

With Tax Credit Over, Are Prices Heading Down Again?

Prices finally seemed to stabilize in the first quarter of this year, but one national firm is predicting that the days of price dips aren't behind us. Real estate analytic firm, Core-Logic, is projecting prices to be down 4.2% nationally by February of 2011 due to a shortage of buyers in the market. The under supply of buyers being a direct result of buyers scrambling to get purchase agreements accepted in late April to take advantage of the tax credit. This last minute demand helped temporally stem the tide of the price downturn most markets had been experiencing for the past two years. However, with the elimination of a percentage of buyers from the market in the coming months, this false floor if you will could sink a little bit.

What does this mean for buyers and sellers? Buyers will have some nice deals to consider in the coming months, whereas, sellers will need to be very aggressive with pricing and have a plan.

Here's the full article on the details courtesy of USA Today.

-Michael

Do Buyers Have Less Choices?

I have recently been hearing from buyers that they don't feel like there are enough choices for them in the marketplace. I did a little digging to legitimize what they have been feeling. The Supply and Demand Ratio shows there are 4.39 homes on the market per buyer. This is down from 5.02 homes per buyer in April 2009 and 7.28 in April 2008. While the numbers for this year and last year look similar, that is nearly a 13% difference in the amount of homes for sale per buyer which is a large enough difference to be felt in the home shopping process.

Here is the Weekly Market Report from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors with more current statistics. Additional evidence can be found in the number of homes on the market which is down 12.5% from last year at this time. Another measure that the industry uses shows there is a 6 month supply of homes on the market; 2 years ago there was over a 9 month supply of homes.

These statistics match up with what several of my buyers have been feeling. However, if we look a closer at the statistics we find that not all price ranges are created equal. For example, overall inventory may be down and buyers under $120k may be shackled with less choices (currently a 3 month supply of homes) but buyers shopping in the over $1M range have almost a 3 year supply to pick from (compared to a 2 year supply a year ago). There are price ranges and areas where buyers still have significant choices and opportunities. For buyers, it is very important to review price range specific statistics when pondering the age old buying questions, "is now the right time?" I recommend getting an analysis of your specific area of interest and price range to know exactly what's happening within your shopping budget.

Jacqueline A. Miller

Stylish Eagan Townhome- New Listing

Check out our the virtual tour of our new listing at 3762 Vermilion Court South in Eagan. A sunny front patio sets the stage for the terrific interior spaces to follow. The comfortable living room has new wood laminate flooring and features a cozy gas fireplace. The adjacent dining area flows nicely into the kitchen with a handy breakfast bar, ceramic tile flooring and new stainless steel appliances. The upper level is comprised of two generous bedrooms and a loft. This impeccable townhome has quality updates throughout and is available in time for you to qualify for the first-time home-buyer tax credit. Offered at $144,900.