Twin Cities Weekly Real Estate Market Report

Whether May or June or July, we're finding it difficult to report anything new to you for the warm weather months of 2010. Week-in and week-out, we're showing a recurring pattern of behavior in the Twin Cities housing market, and the week ending July 24 isn't much different. Pending Sales are at 628 for the week, down 37.8 percent compared to last year, and Active Listings for Sale are at 27,661, up 5.4 percent.

These percentage changes represent a bit of a holding pattern. In fact, we've been here since the expiration of the tax credit. There was a minor bump in Active Listings but it wasn't sufficient to convince us that we're heading toward another oversupply situation.

Days on Market and Months Supply of Inventory continue to indicate a favorable market for home buyers. But with interest rates remaining at historic lows, there appears to be no sense of urgency. We may see a minor kerfuffle in the market before the school year begins, but 1,000-plus pendings per week in August doesn't seem likely, let alone 800.

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The attached MAAR Weekly Market Activity Report is information the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® (MAAR) sends to REALTOR® broker members and interested parties on a weekly basis. This is provided by MAAR to help you understand the Twin Cities 13-county residential real estate marketplace. Please contact me regarding any questions or comments you may have.


-MAAR

Weekly Twin Cities Market Report

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Weekly Market Activity Report

It’s been almost 3 months since the expiration of the federal home buyer tax credit and the market appears to have settled into something of a rhythm. With the dust settling, pending sales have become mostly fixed in the 500-to-600 per week range for the past 9 weeks.

While the dramatic drop from a year ago is certainly not positive, demand is at least holding relatively steady for the time being. The 626 purchase agreements signed for the week ending July 17 were 39.7 percent behind a year ago.

For the same reporting week there were 1,618 new listings in the Twin Cities, down 10.0 percent from a year ago. Inventory is rising due to slower demand. The 27,350 homes currently available for sale represent an increase of 4.8 percent from last year.

-MAAR

Monthly Twin Cities Real Estate Update Video

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Market Report

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Weekly Market Activity Report

For the week ending July 10, the number of pending sales held steady with the week before but remained well behind last year's pace. The 545 signed agreements during the week represent a drop of 45.9 percent from last year at this time. That's the tenth consecutive week of year-over-year declines in buyer demand, a period that coincides with the loss of the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers.

The 1,542 new listings for the most recent reporting week are also down compared to last year but not to the extent of pendings, posting a decline of 17.4 percent from a year ago.

Inventory is up 4.4 percent from a year ago. Because the growing inventory is being greeted with slim buyer demand, the balance of buyers and sellers is shifting the market back in the buyer's favor. The July Supply-Demand Ratio of 7.44 means that there are 7.44 houses for each buyer this month, up 46.9 percent from the mark of 5.06 seen a year ago.

Fannie Mae Increases Penalties for Borrowers Who Walk Away

News Release

June 23, 2010

Fannie Mae Increases Penalties for Borrowers Who Walk Away

Seven-Year Lockout Policy for Strategic Defaulters



WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) announced today policy changes designed to encourage borrowers to work with their servicers and pursue alternatives to foreclosure. Defaulting borrowers who walk-away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the date of foreclosure. Borrowers who have extenuating circumstances may be eligible for new loan in a shorter timeframe.

"We're taking these steps to highlight the importance of working with your servicer," said Terence Edwards, executive vice president for credit portfolio management. "Walking away from a mortgage is bad for borrowers and bad for communities and our approach is meant to deter the disturbing trend toward strategic defaulting. On the flip side, borrowers facing hardship who make a good faith effort to resolve their situation with their servicer will preserve the option to be considered for a future Fannie Mae loan in a shorter period of time."

Fannie Mae will also take legal action to recoup the outstanding mortgage debt from borrowers who strategically default on their loans in jurisdictions that allow for deficiency judgments. In an announcement next month, the company will be instructing its servicers to monitor delinquent loans facing foreclosure and put forth recommendations for cases that warrant the pursuit of deficiency judgments.

Troubled borrowers who work with their servicers, and provide information to help the servicer assess their situation, can be considered for foreclosure alternatives, such as a loan modification, a short sale, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. A borrower with extenuating circumstances who works out one of these options with their servicer could be eligible for a new mortgage loan in three years and in as little as two years depending on the circumstances. These policy changes were announced in April, in Fannie Mae's Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2010-05.

http://www.fanniemae.com/newsreleases/2010/5071.jhtml?p=Media&s=News+Releases

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Market Report

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Weekly Market Activity Report

The Twin Cities housing market continues to adjust to a world without a fancy tax credit. Pending sales leveled off following the slight gains seen the prior week, squatting at 645 signed contracts for the week ending June 19.

While that's steady compared to last week, it's anemic compared to last year at this time when the market posted 1,156 signed contracts. If you're keeping track of percentages, that means we're down 44.2 percent from a year ago—the sixth consecutive week of year-over-year declines exceeding 30 percent.

New listings are also down from a year ago, posting a drop of 8.4 percent from a year ago to 1,712 for the most recent reporting week. Any sort of "return to normalcy" is going to take some time.

-MAAR

Monthly Skinny: June 2010

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Report

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Weekly Market Activity Report

Pending sales in the Twin Cities housing market trended up for the first time in four weeks, but remain substantially below 2009. For the week ending June 12, there were 674 signed purchase agreements, up from the mark of 527 the prior week, but down dramatically from the mark of 1,210 seen during the same week a year ago.

This may be a sign that the drastic drops in sales seen in May and early June were simply temporary aftershock reactions to the tax-credit build up and that demand will slowly return over the course of the summer, but it’s far too early to say that with any certainty. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the numbers each week.

New listings moved upward for the same reporting week to 1,729, but remain 12.2 percent behind last year at this time. However, inventory has slowly climbed due to the decline in pending sales, currently sitting at 26,990 active listings, an increase of 1.1 percent from a year ago.

-MAAR

Price Gains Overshadowed by Lagging Housing Demand

Price Gains Overshadowed by Lagging Housing Demand

May of this year marks the first time since August of 2005 where we've had five consecutive months of year-over-year median price increases. However, pending sales figures declined sharply in May. It is clear that the tax credit party is over and the hangover has truly set in.

The May median sales price for the Twin Cities 13-county metropolitan area was $175,000, a 6.1 percent increase over last May, but the only segment of the market where prices actually increased was the lender-owned (foreclosure) submarket. Traditional and short sales both posted year-over-year price declines.



New listings were down across the board; pending sales were down for every category except short sales—which were up 28.4 percent over May of last year.

The median sales price of traditional homes (excluding foreclosures and short sales) in May was $198,000, down $12,000 or 5.7 percent from the $210,000 figure posted last May. The foreclosure sales price showed a welcome 7.6 percent increase to $125,000, while short sale properties posted a 7.0 percent decline to $143,250.

There were 3,910 signed purchase agreements in May, a decrease of 24.6 percent from last year. That is the greatest year-over-year decrease since April 2006. Seller activity also slowed considerably, with 6,335 new listings posted. This represents a 22.4 percent decrease from last May. In fact, by year-to-date figures, there have been only 23 more pending sales so far this year compared to last.

Like many regions across the country, we saw an uptick in activity as the April 30 federal tax credit deadline approached. When the tax credit ended, buyers seem to have lost interest without the substantial incentive enticing them into the market.

In terms of year-over-year comparisons, housing inventory remained fairly constant in the Twin Cities. The 26,412 active listings for May weighed in at just 1.0 percent under May of last year. The supply-demand ratio increased by 11.0 percent to 5.05. This means that there are about 5 homes available per buyer for June.

-MAAR

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Market Report

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Weekly Market Activity Report

Remember how we've been saying that the Twin Cities housing market has been getting successively slower in home sales every week since the tax credit ended? Umm, yeah, well that's still happening.

Pending sales for the week ending June 5 were another 57.0 percent behind the pace seen a year ago, dropping from 1,226 in 2009 to 527 today. This is the fifth consecutive week-to-week drop in signed contracts. While activity is down across the board, lender-mediated foreclosures and short sales are slowly increasing their market share of sales because traditional home sales have declined sharply. During this week last year, 37.8 percent of pending sales were lender-mediated; this year the share is 43.3 percent.

Thankfully, new supply is not growing in lock-step. The 1,521 new homes placed on the market for the most recent reporting week were 29.6 percent less than last year at this time. This has helped keep the Months Supply of Inventory metric at 6.9 months, down 9.3 percent from May 2009.

-MAAR

Twin Cities Weekly Real Estate Report

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Weekly Market Activity Report

As the weeks following the tax credit expiration unfold, buyer demand continues to slow. The 600 purchase agreements signed for the week ending May 29 were 34.6 percent below the previous year—the fourth consecutive week of year-over-year decline in Pending Sales.

Refreshed supply is also in decline, as New Listings posted a fifth consecutive week of year-over-year decline, landing at 1,474 for the most recent reporting week—a 5.9 percent decrease from a year ago.

Two other metrics for this week:

Days on Market – This stat continues its year-over-year downward trend, resting at 118 days for May 2010.

Percentage of Original List Price Received – This continues to grow, up 2.8 percent above last year at this time to 94.1 percent of the list price.

-MAAR

Monthly Twin Cities Real Estate Update

-MAAR

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Update

Weekly Market Activity Report
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As expected, pending sales continued their post-tax credit deadline swoon in the Twin Cities housing market for the week ending May 15. There were 830 purchase agreements signed for the week, a large drop from the mark of 1,469 seen two weeks ago during the final week of the credit. The most recent week represents a 32.8 percent decrease from the same mark last year.

New Listings are also in decline, with the 1,582 posted for the week coming in at 19.3 percent behind a year ago. The decline in new supply is helping to offset some of the decline in sales, which is serving to hold inventory relatively steady for the time being.

It remains to be seen whether the large drop in activity is a temporary post-credit blip or a harbinger of a longer-term demand "cool down." We'll continue to keep a hawk's eye on the numbers in the weeks ahead.

-MAAR

Twin Cities Weekly Real Estate Market Update

Weekly Market Activity Report
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The spring market is heating up as the federal tax credit deadline draws near. The Twin Cities housing market saw some resurgence in several metrics for the week ending March 13.

Pending sales were where the real action was. The magical "1,000" barrier was finally broken for the first time this spring with 1,027 purchase agreements signed for the week. This was an improvement in the year-over-year figures by 18.0 percent. The 2,110 new listings were slightly down from the previous week's high, but they still outpaced 2009 numbers at this time by 17.9 percent.

The number of active listings slowly continues its upward mobility. There were 24,524 homes available on the market for the week ending March 22. This is still below last year, but as the graph on page 4 shows, active listings are getting closer and closer to where they were during the spring of 2009.

-MAAR

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Market Update

Weekly Market Activity Report

Warming weather, affordability and approaching deadlines are activating the housing market. With less than 60 days left until the home buyer tax credit expires, buyers and sellers appear to be kicking it into a new gear. There were 1,715 new listings for the week ending February 27, an increase of 5.3 percent from a year ago and the fourth consecutive week of year-over-year increase. The $6,500 tax credit for move-up buyers appears to be stimulating some sellers to place their homes on the market in an attempt to sell them before the credit expires.

For the same reporting week, there were 868 accepted offers, which is a bump of 13.9 percent from a year ago. After several months of relatively flat home buying, the last two weeks have seen a jump as the credit deadline nears.

Days on Market continues to decrease, landing at 142 days in February. That was a 9.7 percent decrease from a year ago.

The Percent of Original Price Received at Sale stood at 92.3 percent in February, a 3.4 percent increase over the year prior.

As winter continues its streak of cold and snow, sales activity in the Twin Cities housing market is moving along at a pace you'd expect for the season and at about the same pace as a year ago. Pending sales for the week ending January 30 came in at 650, down very slightly from the mark of 673 seen during the same week last year. Over the last three months, there have been 7,038 signed purchase agreements, up a sliver-sized 0.7 percent from a year ago.

Despite the tax credit being made available to current homeowners, new listing activity has yet to show any noticeable jump. The 1,584 new listings for the most recent reporting week represent a dip of 3.1 percent from a year ago. Total inventory of available homes is still down from last year by 16.5 percent.

In related news, Days on Market Until Sale is still dropping while the Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale is still growing. While that's good news on both fronts for home sellers in general, different price points and neighborhoods are experiencing dramatically different market conditions.


-MAAR

Twin Cities Weekly Real Estate Market Report

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The January 2010 Twin Cities housing market has shaped up to be nearly identical to January 2009.

Pending sales are down slightly from a year ago, but not by much.
New listings are down slightly from a year ago, but not much.
Inventory is rising slowly, but not much.
After the roller coaster ride the local market has experienced over the last four years, perhaps "not by much" is a welcome respite.

There were 558 signed purchase agreements for the week ending January 23, down 2.3 percent from a year ago.
New listings posted 1,522 units, down 0.6 percent from a year ago.
The current inventory of active listings is 20,629, down 17.5 percent from a year ago.
The February 2010 Supply-Demand Ratio sits at 6.99, which means there are 6.99 homes available for each buyer. That's a drop of 8.5 percent from a year ago and the lowest February mark since 2006.

-MAAR

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Report

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Activity continues to pick up in the Twin Cities housing market as sellers and buyers bid a sad farewell to the Vikings' football season and the dormant holiday market begins to thaw. New listings, sales and inventory are steadily increasing as we prepare for the spring selling season.

For the week ending January 16 there were 571 signed purchase agreements, up 4.0 percent from a year ago. That's only the second week of year-over-year increase in the last nine. New listings were 8.3 percent higher than a year ago at 1,668, and the total inventory of homes available for sale currently sits at 20,459, down 18.9 percent from last year at this time.

With an extreme shortage of inventory in some of the lower price ranges, new listings may be welcome in that segment for the first time in several years. In the upper price ranges, sales activity is still declining and new sellers face a tougher market.
-MAAR

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Market Report

Weekly Market Activity Report
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The first full week of reporting for the 2010 Twin Cities housing market is in and while there are a few "green shoots," it's becoming apparent so far that the market won't see the same spectacular growth in sales it saw at the beginning of 2009.

There were 520 pending sales for the week ending January 9, down 1.7 percent from the same week in 2009. That's the seventh week of the last nine to see slightly fewer sales than the prior year, a time period that coincides closely with the initial expiration date of the first-time home buyer tax credit. However, we’re still 21.2 percent higher than the pace in 2008 for that period.

As you likely know, the credit's been expanded to include a $6,500 incentive for buyers who have owned a home for five years of the last eight. Since we can safely assume that many of these buyers will need to sell their home first before buying a new one and receiving the credit, new listings numbers might shed light on how much effect the new credit is having. So far, it doesn't appear to be much.

Over the last three months, the number of new listings has been 11.7 percent behind the same period one year prior. With many looking for continued "seedlings" of hope in the local housing market, this isn't welcome news. As always, we'll be keeping a close eye on the evolving market and reporting back what we see.

Twin Cities Monthly Real Estate Video Update

HUD TAKES ACTION TO SPEED RESALE OF FORECLOSED PROPERTIES TO NEW OWNERS

HUD TAKES ACTION TO SPEED RESALE OF FORECLOSED PROPERTIES TO NEW OWNERS
Measure to help bring stability to home values and accelerate sale of vacant properties
WASHINGTON - In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties. The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure. Just yesterday, Secretary Donovan announced $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants to local communities and nonprofit housing developers to combat the effects of vacant and abandoned homes.

"As a result of the tightened credit market, FHA-insured mortgage financing is often the only means of financing available to potential homebuyers," said Donovan. "FHA has an unprecedented opportunity to fulfill its mission by helping many homebuyers find affordable housing while contributing to neighborhood stabilization."

With certain exceptions, FHA currently prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This temporary waiver will give FHA borrowers access to a broader array of recently foreclosed properties.

"This change in policy is temporary and will have very strict conditions and guidelines to assure that predatory practices are not allowed," Donovan said.

In today's market, FHA research finds that acquiring, rehabilitating and the reselling these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days of acquisition adversely impacts the willingness of sellers to allow contracts from potential FHA buyers because they must consider holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.

The policy change will permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

"FHA borrowers, because of the restrictions we are now lifting, have often been shut out from buying affordable properties," said FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens. "This action will enable our borrowers, especially first-time buyers, to take advantage of this opportunity."

The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by the FHA Commissioner. To protect FHA borrowers against predatory practices of "flipping" where properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers, this waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following general conditions:

•All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
•In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller's acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
•The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.
Specific conditions and other details of this new temporary policy are in the text of the waiver, available on HUD's website.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development ad enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

Weekly Twin Cities Real Estate Market Report

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Housing activity for the week ending January 2, 2010 took a predictable surge upward following the holiday break. New listings rose to 688 for the week—down 37.3 percent from a year ago—while pending sales posted a number of 378—down 11.7 percent from a year ago. We will likely have to wait another week for all the holidays and frosty weather to get flushed from our year-over-year comparisons to get a full understanding of where our market is headed.

A few additional stats for the New Year:

Housing Affordability continues at historic levels: rising to 208 for January, an 8.3 percent increase from the previous year and a good sign for buyers in the year to come.

The Months’ Supply of Inventory is back in balanced market territory at 5.0 months. This is a dramatic 34.2 percent under the supply at the beginning of last year.

With a balancing supply and demand and the possibility of rising interest rates on the horizon, this is a unique opportunity time for Twin Cities' home buyers.

If you are facing foreclosure please call. Let our SFR certified team guide you through. There is a way out. You can sell your home for less than you owe and minimize the damage to your credit. Please call today:

Benjamin A Kruse, Realtor, GRI, SFR
Team Lead / The Sanctuary Group of Coldwell Banker Burnet
612-237-6853
bakruse@cbburnet.com

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The last week of 2009 found the Twin Cities housing market singing "Auld Lang Syne" and taking a breather. For the first time in four years, the active listing inventory dropped below 20,000. Chiming in the New Year at 18,980, inventory is at its lowest point since April 2005 and is 22 percent below last year at this time. Also of note, January's Supply-Demand Ratio of 6.69 houses per buyer is 20.6 percent behind a year ago.

New listings for the week ending December 26 dropped 18.9 percent from last year to 446. The 392 purchase agreements for the week were up a merry 53.1 percent above the previous year; while a significant jump, this reflects a small sample size.

We expect 2010 to begin slowly as car starting becomes more important than house hunting during the frigid conditions we're presently experiencing in the metro area.