Pending sales were ahead this year over last year

According to Kenneth Harney, the current stimulus package will improve the home buyer tax credit.

Full Story: San Francisco Chronicle

Here are links with information about the current package.

National Association Of Realtors
The IRS

Downtown St. Paul managed a 6 percent increase in the median sale price for a home during 2008, making the district a Twin Cities oddity alongside Edina and two sections of Dakota County in posting price gains, compared with the previous year. Overall, the median price in the 13-county metro dropped 13 percent this past year, with declines being posted in the majority of districts defined by Realtors. The new data had St. Paul civic leaders boasting about the joys of downtown living and agents offered a variety of explanations for the uptick, ranging from size of the condos sold to a small number of downtown foreclosure properties.

Full Story: St Paul Pioneer Press (may require free registration)

The four local REALTOR® associations released the official 2008 Twin Cities Housing Market Statistics on January 14 at the Residential Real Estate Summit.

Get your own - Open publication

Long term interest rates fell again in the week ending January 15th, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Market Mortgage Survey. Rates are the lowest they have been since Freddie Mac begin the PMMS in 1971.

Full Story: Freddie Mac

The January 2009 Housing Supply Outlook just hit the streets. As usual, here’s a brief explanation of what to watch for:

• Thanks to increased home sales and declining new listings the January Months Supply of Inventory dropped to 7.6, 9.3 percent below the same time last year. The lowest months supply can be found in single-family detached properties, which currently sits at 7.0. The highest can be found in condominiums—a hearty 11.4 months of supply is available in that segment.
• The lower price ranges continue to see a growing share of market activity. Home sales below 0,000 have more than doubled in the last year, jumping 133.1 percent. The lion’s share of homes being sold in these price ranges are lender-mediated foreclosures and short sales.
• As a result of this growing phenomenon, prices continue to soften. The Average Price Per Square Foot over the last twelve months is 14.5 percent lower than the twelve months before that. The largest declines can be seen in single-family detached properties.

For More Information: The Skinny
January 2009 Housing Supply Report

The New Year rang in with the normal post-holiday increase in new listings, but listings are still down from the same week last year. Pending sales for the week ending January 3 showed a strong increase during the year-end transition, rising nearly 40 percent compared to last year. Over the last three months of the year, pending sales were 18 percent higher than last year. Local housing inventory has reached its annual low point but looks to rebound in the opening months of 2009.

This week’s edition of the MAAR Weekly Market Activity Report features updated figures from several important metrics:

In December, Days on Market Until Sale dropped 6.3 percent compared to last year. The market appears to have reached a plateau in the amount of time needed to sell a house, and this welcome decline certainly could continue into the next year.

Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale closed at 90.0 in December, 1.3 percent lower than last year.

The new Housing Affordability Index (HAI) for January is extremely positive. Last month we stated that the HAI of 180 was the highest we had ever recorded. Now it’s even higher, jumping an additional 12 points to 192. The rise reflects the help that interest rates and softer prices have given to the market. (Note: The decline in prices is driven by the significant amount of lender-mediated home sales and its benefit is not equal to all buyers.)
For More Information: The Skinny
Weekly Market Activity Report 1.12.08

Long term interest rates fell again in the week ending January 8th, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Market Mortgage Survey. Rates are the lowest they have been since Freddie Mac begin the PMMS in 1971.
Full Story: Freddie Mac

New demographic projections show that in the next 26 years, as many as 85,000 residents could be migrating from the Twin Cities to western Wisconsin towns and villages. Sommerset, Hammond, Baldwin, Roberts, Hudson, New Richmond and River Falls could see a doubling in size. The projected growth is part of a continuing wave of expansion into exurban Minnesota counties as well, including Wright, Sherburne, Isanti and Chisago, said Tom Gillaspy, Minnesota’s state demographer. “We’ve been growing outward in all directions and little things like state boundaries don’t stop people, he said. “Americans have a real desire to find elbow room, That’s a long-standing tradition.”
Full Story: Star Tribune (may require free registration)