After briefly surfacing for air, Pending Sales in the 13-county Twin Cities metropolitan area submarined back below last year's elevated baseline. Activity at this time last year was uniquely strong due to the then-approaching tax credit deadline. Buyer activity was down 12.6 percent from February 2010 levels to 3,082 purchase agreements, but was down a less dramatic 7.0 percent when compared to 2009 and was down only 0.2 percent
compared to 2008. Closed Sales were down 1.7 percent from last February but were actually up 2.5 percent from the same month in 2009 and up 5.6 percent from 2008.
On the supply side, sellers placed 5,299 homes on the market. This represented 26.0 percent fewer New Listings than there were in Feburary 2010—when many first-time home buyers were eager to purchase. The only increase in listings came in the foreclosure segment where they were up 5.5 percent. The traditional and short sale segments both saw double-digit declines in listing activity.
Prices remained soft. The Median Sales Price dropped a considerable 10.4 percent from February 2010 to $142,500. "Foreclosure sales were up nearly 40 percent from last year, which accounts for a good part of the dropoff," said Brad Fisher, President of the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®.
This price decline wasn't felt evenly across the board. Traditional, non-distressed properties posted a more tempered 4.0 percent price decrease to $194,605; foreclosures tumbled 12.5 percent to $105,000; and short sales declined 3.2 percent to $140,290. Lender-mediated sales accounted for 57.5 percent of all February 2011 closings but a smaller 53.9 percent of all February 2011 pendings.
The Average Days on Market Until Sale increased 16.1 percent to 157 in February, the highest recorded number since data tracking began in 2003. Negotiations unsurprisingly favored buyers as Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale declined to 88.2, the lowest number since data tracking began. Months Supply of Inventory held steady at January's 7.5 months level. That is up 23.0 percent from last February but it is flat from last month.
"At this point in time, 2008 and 2009 serve as a more useful baseline for year-over-year market comparisons," said Cari Linn, President-Elect of the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®. "We can't reliably compare to 2010 just yet."
