Twin Cities home sales, prices rise in March
New housing data from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors show Twin Cities home sales and prices were up in March.
The numbers also show housing inventory continued to shrink, along with the amount of time homes stayed on the market before a sale. The median sales price increased by 6.4 percent from the previous March to $149,000. Homes spent an average of 144 days on the market — a drop of 10 percent.
Andy Fazendin, president-elect of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, said the rise in home prices should lure more sellers into the market.
"This is a pretty important moment just to make up a little ground as far as the price increase goes," he said. "We've seen such dramatic decreases in values over the last six, seven years here in the Minneapolis-Twin Cities area."
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Fazendin said the Twin Cities housing market is beginning to balance out. Inventory is down 39.2 percent to 4.6 months supply. Distressed homes made up about 34 percent of all listings and 43 percent of pending sales in March.
Fazendin said these are all positive signs.
"The term multiple offer, we had not heard that for a long time and now it's just a very common thing because anything that is in good shape and priced right, there is a line to make offers for properties like that," he said.
However, Fazendin said lender mediated sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, still make up about a third of Twin Cities home sales.
