The September Housing Supply Outlook is online now. As usual, here’s a few quick takeaways from this hyper-detailed look at the Twin Cities housing market.

Takeaway #1: The single-family detached market segment is rapidly approaching a balanced equilibrium. There are currently 6.3 months of supply available in that segment compared to 8.0 and 11.7 months in the townhome and condominium segments, respectively. The lower price ranges of the single-family detached segment are actually now extreme seller’s markets, with only 2.3 months of supply available under $120,000, for example.

Takeaway #2: Sales continue to boom below $200,000 as first-time buyers move to take advantage of the final days of the federal tax credit. Expect sales to continue at a brisk pace for the next two months as the "last call before bar close" buyers take advantage of the final days of this substantial market incentive.

Click here to view the September Housing Supply Outlook.

Months Supply of Inventory by Property Type:

Thanks to The Skinny Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors and Jeff Allan

The Q2-2009 Update to "Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Twin Cities Housing Market" has been released. Click here to view. Click on neighborhood for detailed view of MLS area.  Interesting Numbers!

Per the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors Blog "The Skinny"

Prices Creep Up as Traditional Sales Grow

Word on the street is that people like lists more than prose for receiving information they can digest with ease. This hurts my writerly heart, but, hey, I get it. We’re busy people these days. Two hundred emails per day, 15 blogs to follow, 65 Facebook status updates, 450 Twitter feeds. Plus all the other stuff you’re actually trying to get paid to do, not to mention the personal life you want to have. Goodness gracious.

So let’s do this for you, MSP:

Stats Snapshot:

1. June saw 5,183 signed purchase agreements, up 33.7 percent from this time last year.

2. 40.7 percent of closed sales in June were lender-mediated, compared to 59.7 percent in January.

3. A decrease in lender-mediated market share brought the overall median price up from last month to $173,500 in June. Despite the month-over-month increase, that’s still a 15.4 percent drop from June 2008.

4. The median June sales price of traditional homes was $210,000, down 7.7 percent from a year ago

5. The median June sales price of lender-mediated homes was $124,025, down 16.8 percent from a year ago.

6. The number of properties for sale at the end of June was 26,204, down 21.9 percent from this time last year.

7. There are 7.3 months of supply available, down significantly from the 10.6 seen at this time last year and trending back down towards a balanced market of 5 to 6 months of supply.

8. There are 10.9 months of traditional supply and only 4.4 months of lender-mediated supply.

Primary Takeaways:

1. June’s pending sales were the highest June showing since 2005 and the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

2. With low mortgage rates and the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers, we’re seeing the recent jump in sales spill over into the traditional market.

3. We still have an abnormally high number of foreclosures and short sales, but it’s an improvement from six months ago.

4. Sellers still face a challenging market, but things look better for them than they have in awhile. 

June Skinny Video-  More good insight about our crazy twin cities real estate market.  Lots of good news check it out! 

There is a new website for all you urbanites looking to move into either Minneapolis or St Paul.  LIVEMSP.ORG is your one stop shop for buying in the city.  It has wonderful information regarding the home buying process along with detailed neighborhood information.  This is an informative website for the relocating buyer or for the novice twin citian.  You can also follow them on Twitter.  I thought I’d make a list of my favorite places in Minneapolis and St Paul.  I enjoy both cities equally and think they each have unique qualities and do not have a favorite! 

Minneapolis-

Lake Harriet/Lake Calhoun- between the two I think Lake Calhoun is better people watching.

Isles Bun and Coffee Shop- 1424 West 28th Street, my mouth is watering just thinking of the Puppy Dog Tails.  On a nice day don’t be put off by the line out the door, it is well worth the wait. 

Nokomis Beach Coffee- 4956 28TH Ave S, not just coffee, but ice cream, wonderful pastries and waffles.

Fat Lorenzos- 5600 Cedar Ave S- my husbands favorite, your neighborhood pizza joint.

Town Talk Diner- 2707 E Lake St- they serve Pabst Blue Ribbon in the can and have cheese curds, do I need to say more? 

Midtown Global Market- Lake St and 10th Ave S- shopping and food, something for everyone.

Bar Abeline- 1300 Lagoon Ave S- Wonderful mojitos and table side guacamole

St Paul-

St Paul Farmers Market- 290 E 5th St- locally grown, they also have meat, eggs and cheese.

The Nook- 429 Hamline Ave S- juicy nookie burger, be careful of the hot cheese that may squirt out.

J & S Bean Factory- 1518 Randolph Ave- good freshly roasted coffee with a great atmosphere, many blog posts done here

Alexander Ramsey House- 265 S Exchange St- first governor home, be a tourist in your own backyard

Mad Hatter Coffee Cafe and Tea Shop- 945 W 7th St- truly local, tell Fran I sent ya!

MN State Fair- 12 best days of summer- August 27- September 7th, mark your calendars. 

Skinners Pub and Eatery- 919 Randolph Ave- best Reuben pizza, if it isn’t on the menu just ask.

Both a Minneapolis and St Paul favorite by many-The Minnesota Twins!

New weekly statistics are out as of Tuesday May26th from Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®.  Quoting Mark Allen, more good news:

Inventory is being sold through at a rate that is still flying high above last year’s numbers. Breaking the 1,200 pending sales threshold for the first time in three years, the 1,235 pending sales occurring during the most recent reporting week is up 36.9 percent over the same week last year. While many of these sales are lender-mediated properties, the increase in sales is welcome news regardless.

The decline in new listings, coupled with increased pending sales, has resulted in active listings supply dropping significantly. A year-over-year comparison of active listings from last May reveals a drop of 20.5 percent, bringing our Supply-Demand Ratio down to a healthy 5.23 houses for sale per buyer.

The rebalancing is beginning but the journey back will be slow. It appears that enough houses will soon be off the market, thus creating a rebalancing of the buyer-seller mix and a reversal in price trends.

Here is the full weekly statistical report. 

Per Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®:

April home sales in the Twin Cities were even stronger than March’s
upswing. There were 5,211 pending sales in April, up 23.8 percent
from last April. This is the highest showing of signed purchase
agreements in April since 2005 and the tenth consecutive month of
year-over-year increases. Among the month’s pending sales, 46
percent were lender-mediated.
Supply continues to experience sluggish growth. There are currently
26,410 homes for sale in the Twin Cities, up 416 units from last
month and down 18.4 percent from this time last year. The Supply-
Demand ratio sits at 5.23 for May—down 28.6 percent from this
time last year.
The median sales price for all properties in April of $153,000 is
down 25.2 percent from a year ago. While this figure is
mathematically correct, it is conceptually flawed. Since a higher
share of sales this April were lender-mediated than last April, the
number is skewed downward. The median April sales price of
traditional homes was $205,000, down 8.5 percent from a year ago.
Lender-mediated homes posted an April figure of $120,000, down
21.5 percent from a year ago.

Here are the complete April statistics.  May could be even hotter, and not just temperature wise, with more foreclosures coming on the market.  Multiple offers are becoming common place, so buyers if you see something you like don’t wait to long or you may be competing with other buyers.  Stay tuned for some good first time homebuyer programs in Dakota County.  

Thanks to Mark Allen, CEO of Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®, for providing us these valuable and positive statistics and for all the little humor thrown in.  

It’s becoming a wild and active spring for the Twin Cities housing market. First, pending sales ought to give REALTORS® some joy in their Easter baskets, with 1,004 reported for the week ending April 4—a 28.7 percent increase over last year and the best single week since May 2007. New listings went skyward compared to last week with 2,055 for the week ending April 4, but they remain 11.2 percent behind the same week a year ago.

The recent jump in sales is bringing the supply of available homes down even further. There are currently 26,085 homes on the market in the region—17.5 percent below this time last year and good for 7.7 months of supply.

Finally, like Warren Robinett in Adventure, this week’s WMAR has its own Easter egg tucked away. The Housing Affordability Index for April has grown to 218, which means the median family income is 218 percent of what’s necessary to qualify for the median priced home. For those of you scoring at home, that’s a 40.8 percent increase over where we stood last year at this time and is 77.3 percent over our low point of 123 in July 2006. We have to bear in mind that increased lender-mediated activity makes that number supernaturally high.

All in all, dropping prices, low mortgage rates and government incentive programs for home buyers are making this a spring to remember.

MAAR Weekly Market Activity Report- click for detailed report!!!!

MAAR March Statistics- more good news! Per Mark Allen, Compared to a year ago, there are more buyers out there and they have less to choose from. But sellers still face a tough road that requires smart pricing and marketing.  I couldn’t have said it better myself, thanks Mark.