Twin Cities Realtors say stimulus tax credit driving new home demand

Posted at 10:12 PM on April 10, 2009 by Paul Tosto (0 Comments)
Filed under: Housing & mortgages, Twin Cities metro

Realtors have an obvious interest in talking about how now is the right time to buy a house. Boom or bust markets, it's always a good time to buy!

Today, though, the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors came out with hard data that seem to show signs of a genuine upswing in the Twin Cities area housing market, driven by low rates and the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit.

The group said the inventory of homes for sale has fallen over the past month and fallen significantly from last year. Also, there were 7,150 deals closed for homes in 09 compared to 6,668 during the first quarter of 08.

Not everything is swell. The survey noted that the median sales price in the Twin Cites metro area continues to fall, or, as they put it, "continues to search for its low point."

The group put the median sales price for a single-family, residential property in March at $154,125, 23 percent down from a year ago, when it was $200,000.

For the first time since July of last year the median sales price increased on a month-over-month basis by 2.75 percent. The median sales price one month ago was $150,000.

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