Case-Shiller on Twin Cities Real Estate Market

New Case-Shiller Report Brings Good News
About Twin Cities Home Prices; MAAR Reports
Increases in Home Sales

In the middle of the current financial turmoil,
Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Report
has some good news regarding home prices in
the Twin Cities.
The Case-Shiller report, which was released
Sept. 30, notes that home prices in the Twin Cities
rose for two consecutive months this summer.
From May to June, prices rose 0.9 percent,
and from June to July, prices rose 1.3 percent—
the largest increase of all 20 metropolitan areas
surveyed in the report.
In other good news, the Minneapolis Area Association
of REALTORS® (MAAR) has been reporting
an increase in home sales in the metro area over
the summer and early fall, and in some cases dramatic
increases. MAAR just reported that there
were 4,036 pending sales during the month of
September 2008—a 42.2 percent increase over
September 2007’s number of 2,839. MAAR said
that closed sales also increased dramatically—
34.9 percent higher than in September 2007. In
addition, MAAR reported that the October 2008
Housing Affordability Index jumped to 159—21.4
percent higher than October 2007.
The Case-Shiller Report reviews home prices in
the 20 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. The report
is based on thousands of repeat sales of
the same single-family houses. The MAAR report
studies the median sale prices of all singlefamily
homes, condominiums, and townhomes
on the Regional Multiple Listing Service that sold
during a specific period.