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Q4 Lender Mediated Report & City Level Data Released

January 27, 2009 by 2 Comments
Hennepin County Sheriff Sales through December 2008

Today I am pleased to announce the release of the Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Twin Cities Housing Market: Q4 2008 Update.  This is the 4th installment of quarterly reporting of lender mediated sales and their impact in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area, which I co-author with the musically, intellectually, politically and statistically talented Jeff Allen.  2008 reports from quarters 1, 2 and 3 are also available. Here's how to know if buying a foreclosure or short sale is right for you. This … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreclosures and Short Sales, General, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Opinion, Personal Experiences Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Financing Costs for Twin Cities Homes – A Different View

December 30, 2008 by 2 Comments
Twin Cities Housing Finance Costs Per Square Foot - 2008

I love data... be it hard numbers, graphs, charts, tables, interpretation, etc.  I've come up with another concept of tracking overall affordability: combining cost per finished square foot with mortgage rates to give an overall cost of financing each square foot of house over the last few years (I only had data back to 2002): This chart is using approximate mortgage costs and an estimated cost per square foot for 2008 so this isn't "scientific quality" but the trend is very clear and I think it's close.  … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community Issues, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Mortgage Rates, Opinion Tagged With: , , , , ,

Twin Cities Housing Affordability Hits Record High

December 8, 2008 by Leave a Comment
December 2008 Housing Affordability Index - Minneapolis/St. Paul

Just released from MAAR: The Housing Affordability Index (HAI)�shot up 19 points to 180 thanks to the recent healthy declines in mortgage interest rates and a continued softening in home prices; the HAI has not been this attractive since we began tracking data in 1990. What This Means to You The dramatic fall in interest rates in recent weeks coupled with the substantial sales price reductions (mostly found in lender-mediated sales, which are foreclosures and short sales) has lead to an affordability index that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreclosures and Short Sales, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Mortgage Rates, Opinion Tagged With: , , , , ,

Twin Cities Real Estate Sales Climbing

November 25, 2008 by Leave a Comment
twin-cities-pending-sales

While the median sales price of homes in the Twin Cities continues to fall, there is some great news to be had as well.  No, this market downturn/correction/bubble burst/armageddeon/etc. isn't over yet but there are some fundamentals that need to change before the market can turn around and several have or are close to changing. Pending Sales took a nice turn above 2007 sales volume in August and have stayed above the year-prior figures even with the loss of 0% down financing on October 1 and the recently … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreclosures and Short Sales, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Opinion, Personal Experiences Tagged With: , , ,

Twin Cities Real Estate Affordability Hits 5 Year High

March 12, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Housing Affordability Index - March 2008

The Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS released their latest market update this week which shows a Housing Affordability Index number of 157... the highest affordability in 5 years and 14% higher than a year ago! Though interest rates did tick up some in the last month, median sales price took another dip which more than made up for the rate increase and lead us with a Median Sales Price below $200,000 for the first time since Spring 2005: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Mortgage Rates Tagged With: , , ,

Economy in Trouble: Bad for Stocks, Good for Housing

January 24, 2008 by 1 Comment

As the news about a slowing economy and fears of recession mount, the stock market has taken a huge hit, falling double-digit percentages in the last couple months, but housing is benefitting.  As money has been taken out of stocks, it has been flowing into bonds, which are historically a very safe investment.  When demand for bonds rises, that reduces the interest rate paid on those bonds.  As the bond market goes, the mortgage market follows. We've seen substantial improvements in rates in just the last … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Mortgage Rates, Opinion Tagged With: , , ,

Twin Cities Real Estate Affordability Hits 34 Month High

December 10, 2007 by Leave a Comment

The Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS released their weekly market report today with new Housing Affordability Index numbers for December 2007.  The HAI of 141 is the highest we've seen in the Twin Cities since February 2005... nearly 3 years ago.  Falling mortgage rates, with many brokers quoting under 6% for a 30-year fixed), and lower sales prices has improved affordability by over 10% in just 3 months! With mortgage rates and home prices down, the market is starting to look better for 1st time buyers … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, Mortgage Rates Tagged With: , , ,

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TwinCitiesRealEstateBlog.com is not a Multiple Listing Service MLS, nor does it offer MLS access.
This website is a service of Aaron Dickinson of Edina Realty, a broker Participant of the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc.