May is starting out cold and dark, but that’s just the weather. The Twin Cities housing market paints a much warmer and brighter picture for all of us. While the number of homes currently for sale continues to increase, sales are rising as well. We currently have over 24,000 listings active in the Twin Cities metro area alone and the average market time is 70 days. In one neighborhood in Blaine, there were four homes for sale within 2 blocks of each other and were priced within $10,000 of each other. All were of similar size, condition and age. In this situation, interior condition, cleanliness, and staging are very important, as is price. In this type of situation, there is likely to be significant pressure on the sales price of these homes due to the large amount of competition. Mortgage rates dipped again slightly in April due to financial market data pointing to a cooler economy. As long as inflation remains and job growth remain low, the stock market will continue to struggle and that will in turn encourage interest rates to remain lower as well.
While the current number of homes on the market does provide buyers with many options, that does not necessarily mean that they can offer sellers “low-ball” offers and expect them to be accepted. While there is some bargaining room, especially in areas with lots of inventory, many sellers are remaining firm and receiving their asking price or close to it.
