As a real estate agent in the Twin Cities, I pride myself on having the experience and a deep understanding of the local market and how various changes affect home prices in our area. If you are considering buying or selling a home in the near future, I'd love to provide you with a complimentary market analysis to get the process started. It's important to have a base understanding of what's happening in your target area so you know what to expect for pricing, time on market, etc. Just shoot me a quick email or give me a call and I can get information over to you on your neighborhood. Have a great day!

Nationally, existing home sales jumped 14.5% month-over-month as of last measure, the first monthly gain in 12 months, and representing the largest monthly increase since July 2020, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). The sudden uptick in sales activity stems from contracts signed toward the beginning of the year, when mortgage rates dipped to the low 6% range, causing a surge in homebuyer activity. Pending sales have continued to improve heading into spring, increasing for the third consecutive month, according to NAR.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, national sales of new homes edged up 1.1% moth-over-month as of last measure, thanks in part to builders' use of incentives and price discounts, with increases in housing starts and permits reported as well. Builder sentiment also continues to rise, as a limited supply of existing-home inventory has led to an uptick in new home demand. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HM), builder confidence increased for the third consecutive month in March, rising two points to 44 from the previous month, marking a six-month high.

Monthly sales might have been even higher if not for limited inventory nationwide. At the current sales pace, there was just 2.6 months’ supply of existing homes at the beginning of March, far below the 4 to 6 months’ supply of a balanced market. Inventory remains suppressed in part because of mortgage interest rates, which nearly hit 7% before falling again in recent weeks. Higher rates have continued to put downward pressure on sales prices, and for the first time in more than a decade, national home prices were lower year-over-year, according to NAR, breaking a 131-month streak of annual price increases.

Twin Cities Market-wide inventory levels were up 2.1 percent. The property type that gained the most inventory was the Townhomes segment, where it increased 23.3 percent. That amounts to 1.3 months supply for Single Family homes, 1.5 months supply for Townhomes and 2.5 months supply for Condos. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $250.001 to $350,000 range at 29 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $1,000,001 and Above range at 68 days.