For Immediate Release
April 10, 2008
Contact:
Patrick Ruble
Saint Paul Area Association of REALTORS®
651.772.6343
pruble@spaar.com
Signs of a spring market
Proportionally speaking the current housing sales activity appears to be sizing up as a typical spring market. There were no significant surprises for the first quarter although sales continue to lag behind prior years.
Pending sales, a leading indicator of future closed home sales, moved strongly forward from February to March increasing 17.65 percent for the month. There were 3,087 pending sales reported last month compared to 3,632 pending sales reported in March 08. However, pending sales continue to fall behind previous year’s levels, down 14.62 percent from March 07. Last year there were 4,254 pending sales reported for the month.
At the end of March 08 there were 30,745 active listings of existing, single-family residential properties reported for the 13-county metro area in the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota’s (RMLS) system, while compared to 30,470 one year ago. This slowing pace of new listings has significantly contributed to a move toward stabilization of housing sales in the Twin Cities. It will still take some time to work through the inventory toward a balanced market.
The Months Supply of Inventory (MSI), the amount of time it would take to sell through the current number of listed properties, continues to move downward, a good sign, from approximately 12.3 in January, 10.6 in February to 9 months in March. Average days on market for sold listings continue to hold steady at 89 days in March compared to 88 days in February.
New listings for the first Quarter of 08 totaled 25,097 compared to 27,503 one year ago, a decline of 8.57 percent. March 08 new listings trailed 16.97 percent from one year ago. During the month of March 08 there were 8,523 new listings added to the inventory compared to 10,265 one year ago.
The median price of a closed home for the 13 county metro area during March 08 rose 2.53 percent to $200,000 from the $195,060 reported in February 08. The median price for closed home sales remains down 9.69 percent compared to March 07 in the 13 county metro.
Greg Bauman, President of the Saint Paul Area Association of REALTORS®, stated we “Continue to see signs of a stabilizing market. March looked very similar to February with the exception of the median price having a small increase over last month. Buyers appear to be coming back into the market despite one of the snowiest March's in recent years.”
Housing statistics include existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses. Statistics are provided by the Saint Paul Area Association REALTORS® and are based on data supplied by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.
The Saint Paul Area Association of REALTORS® represents 4,000 members involved in all aspects of the real estate industry.
For more information about Twin Cities area home sales statistics, contact Patrick Ruble at 651-772-6343 (pruble@spaar.com ).
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B. Patrick Ruble
Government Affairs Director
Saint Paul Area Association of REALTORS®
651-772-6343
pruble@spaar.com
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