November 20th, 2006
Mark Allen, CEO of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, had this to say in his weekly market activity report:
The number of homes for sale in our regional housing market continues to decline, both seasonally and relative to the performance of previous years. There are currently just under 29,000 single-family units for sale in the 13-county Twin Cities metropolitan area, down more than 2,700 from the inventory peak in late August. Compared to the same time last year, inventory is currently up 22 percent. For much of 2006, inventory levels were more than 40 percent higher than they had been in 2005, but real declines in seller activity have taken a bite out of this growth.
November 13th, 2006
Mark Allen, CEO of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, had this to say in his weekly market activity report:
Residential housing sales remain relatively slow in the Twin Cities as we move towards the impending holiday market pause. For the week ending November 4, pending sales were down 24 percent from the same time in 2005. Slowing further shift in the buyer’s favor is a substantial decline in seller activity; new listings were down 12 percent from the same week-to-week comparison.
November 6th, 2006
Interesting times. Now is a great time to be a home BUYER.
Mark Allen, CEO of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, had this to say in his weekly market activity report:
Twin Cities residential sellers are joining buyers in exercising caution as we move through the annual autumn market deceleration. For the week ending October 28, new listings were 6 percent behind the same week in 2005. Pending sales were even farther behind—24 percent for the same week-to-week comparison.
November 3rd, 2006
SmartMoney.com has an interesting article on Extreme House Selling Strategies:
IT’S A TOUGH TIME for home sellers. While the media competes for the direst gloom-and-doom real-estate-bubble headline, crowded open houses and bidding wars are becoming a quick-fading memory. Homes prices are down, and so are sales…
The 5 Extreme House Selling Strategies listed were:
- Tempt the buyer or the buyer’s broker
- Stage your house
- Throw a party
- Do your homework
- Rent it out
October 28th, 2006
One of my favorite real estate blogs, BrownStoner.com, mentions an article from the LA Times about the Psychology of Sellers.
YOU BOUGHT YOUR house 10 years ago for $250,000. Now you’re thinking of downsizing, so you put your house on the market — for $600,000. No takers. After a few weeks, you reduce the price to $575,000. Then $550,000. An offer comes in for $520,000. You reject it and pull your house off the market, waiting for better times.
Source: LA TIMES, 10/20/2006
The seller mentioned above thinks he’s “Lost” $80,000. As BrownStoner noted:
