It seems that at least once per week someone prominent who should know better will go on TV and say that you need a 20% down payment to buy a home. That is total crap. FHA loans with 3.5% down payment are still available and I see loan officers offering Conventional loans with 5%, 10% and 15% down every day too. If you happen to be a qualifying Veteran or live in a rural area, you may even qualify for a 0% down loan. The other thing I hear at least once a week from these "experts" is that you need cash to … [Read more...]
University of St. Thomas Housing Index: That’s Not Your Data
July 23, 2012 by 4 Comments
In 2011, The University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business started producing a report called the "Minneapolis St. Paul Residential Real Estate Index." I had heard about it at some point last year but didn't pay much attention. Then this year when I saw the report's authors being quoted in the local news media and the numbers they were reciting, a strange feeling hit me. I had seen these numbers before. I then did some research and looked over the entire contents of several months of their reports and … [Read more...]
2200+ Short Sales Stuck Waiting for Bank Approval
April 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Short Sales By The Numbers: 3,900 We have about 3,900 short sales currently for sale in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on the MLS. 2,200 In the Twin Cities, of those 3,900 short sales we now have more than 2,200 that have received offers and are waiting for the seller's lender(s) to provide a response, 900 more than we had nearly 20 months ago and 500 more than we had 7 months ago. By the way, this means that 2200+ buyers are tied up waiting for properties they may or may not ever get to buy. 56% Percent of … [Read more...]
Shadow Inventory – The Housing Market’s Boogieman
February 1, 2012 by 4 Comments
April 2013 Update: These words are as true today as they were a year ago. For years now we've been hearing housing "experts" talk about the shadow housing inventory. This is apparently all the distressed housing backlog that has yet to make its way through the system. Depending on who you talk to, it may or may not include homeowners that are underwater (but current), people who have jobs now but might not later, or people who will decide to default just because everyone else is (the "herd … [Read more...]
Minnesota Pre-Foreclosure Notices Drop to New Lows
January 25, 2012 by 2 Comments
The Minnesota Home Ownership Center has been tracking pre-foreclosure notices in Minnesota since the state legislature required notices to be sent to housing counselors as part of the foreclosure process in late 2008.Recent quarters have shown substantially fewer notices sent out and the Center's numbers from Q4 2011 continue this trend:While a quarter or two of lower activity could just be a short-term trend, we have now had a full year of substantially diminished notices. I'm not saying we are done with … [Read more...]
The Twin Cities Housing Market Has Bottomed
January 17, 2012 by 5 Comments
After years of price declines, today I am here to say that the Twin Cities housing market has bottomed. Having sold houses for the last nine years I can tell you I've seen both the up and the dramatic down of our market... it has been quite the theme park ride! I think we are all sick of the real estate roller coaster and would prefer to enjoy a little "lazy river" type housing market for a while - one that ebbs and flows but without the steep drops or climbs of our recent past. I've spent years looking at many … [Read more...]
Foreclosures and Short Sales Now Worth the Same
January 9, 2012 by 2 Comments
Since the housing downturn has started, short sales always have always commanded a higher price per square foot. Well that has now changed. Median Sales Prices are also quickly coming together as well. The rule of thumb in the past was that short sales were often in better condition than a bank owned and so commanded a premium. Today we see that foreclosures are often being cleaned up and thus the condition isn't as different. We also have a buyer pool that has heard all the horror stories of trying to … [Read more...]
Twin Cities Foreclosures Hit 4+ Year Low
December 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment
In recent months a common phrase has been uttered by countless buyers and real estate agents: "where are all the foreclosures?" Since August 2010 the Twin Cities Region has seen foreclosures for sale drop 52% from approximately 4000 to about 1900 today. This is the first time since July 2007 that we have seen inventory this low. Twin Cities Homes for Sale Based on data available as of December 2, 2011. All data from Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. Powered by 10K Research and … [Read more...]
Minnesota Foreclosures in Q3 2011 Down 32% from Q3 2010
November 4, 2011 by 2 Comments
This just in from HousingLink:There were 4,935 foreclosures in Minnesota in Q3 of 2011, down 32% from Q3 2010. Q3 2011 marks four consecutive quarters with fewer than 6,000 statewide foreclosures. While this follows four quarters in which the statewide count exceeded that number, the Q3 2011 figure of 4,935 still far exceeds the 1,618 foreclosures averaged in 2005, the first year sheriff sale records were totaled for the state of Minnesota.Below is a chart from their very detailed report:While this in no way … [Read more...]
Townhome & Condo Foreclosures Affect Other Unit Owners
October 3, 2011 by 2 Comments
The Star Tribune has a piece titled: Whistleblower: Homeowners pick up the tab. The Strib just scratches the surface of this issue.When someone buys into a townhome or condo development, they are becoming part owner of a nonprofit corporation that has ownership of common elements in the development and responsibilities for maintenance, insurance, utilities, etc for these common elements.When one of the shareholders (homeowners) stops paying their mortgage, they typically stop paying the association dues as well. … [Read more...]
