December 2009 Real Estate Review and Year end 2009 Review

What to Watch for:

This information was provided by The Greater Lakes Association of REALTORS

 Home Sales in the Greater Lakes Region continued their recent hot streak
once again in December.  There were 144 closed sales during the month, up 23.1 percent from last December. That means the region finished 2009 with
2,079 sales-up 6.4 percent from 2008.  

Supply was a different story for the year, as the 5,792 new listings represented
a drop of 7.5 percent from 2008.
  
Strong sales and falling supply have helped bring the Months Supply of Inventory
down to 19.6, a decline of 6.8 percent from a year ago and a sign that the market
is moving slowly back towards equilibrium.

Click Here To View the Full December Real Estate Review

Also, it appears that the twin cities real estate market is continues to improve despite a slight setback after the tax credit expired the first time and has had 18 months of consecutive growth. The Gallery of Homes is a member of both the Greater Lakes Association of REALTORS and the Minneapolis Association of REALTORS which provides the Northstar MLS system serving the twin cities area which is the 5^th largest MLS system in the country. As a member of this association, we receive a real estate review for this market as well. Because the twin cities real estate market does have a direct impact on our local real estate market, I thought I would share the latest report we received from them:

The last week of 2009 found the Twin Cities housing market singing "Auld Lang Syne" and taking a breather. For the first time in four years, the active listing inventory dropped below 20,000. Chiming in the New Year at 18,980, inventory is at its lowest point since April 2005 and is

22 percent below last year at this time. Also of note, January's Supply- Demand Ratio of 6.69 houses per buyer is 20.6 percent behind a year ago.

New listings for the week ending December 26 dropped 18.9 percent from last year to 446. The 392 purchase agreements for the week were up a merry 53.1 percent above the previous year; while a significant jump, this reflects a small sample size. We expect 2010 to begin slowly as car starting becomes more important than house hunting during the frigid conditions we're

presently experiencing in the metro area.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions

Dan Pflugshaupt

REALTOR, GRI, e-PRO

218-839-7700

Dan@GalleryofHomesMN.com

Specializing in North Central Minnesota Lakeshore & Recreational Property