Have we found the “New Normal” in Twin Cities real estate activity? I have to image we have. For more than 3 months we’ve seen showing activity down 35% – 40% from the year prior:
Twin Cities Pending Sales, which are signed contracts between a buyer and a seller, are experiencing a similar magnitude of decline as showing activity, which I think supports my belief that we’re in an extended period of diminished demand:
While both buyer and seller activity is down post-credit, buyer activity is down more than seller activity which means that the inventory of homes for sale on the market is slowly climbing and is now 6.6% above last year at this time and is now slightly higher than at any point in 2009.
I see the rest of the year trending with continued showing activity and pending sales lower than last year at this time, though I expect the difference to shrink some in the coming weeks. Inventory is likely to continue its creep up in response, but we’re still way off out inventory highs of 2007 & 2008.
