Despite a spring bump in mortgage interest rates, it was the best August in at least a decade for Twin Cities home sellers. A monthly report from Minneapolis and St. Paul Area Associations of Realtors released this morning shows that there were 5,575 closings during the month - the most since at least August 2003. Here's a summary of what happened during the month compared with last year, we'll have a complete story in the Friday paper with reaction from Twin Cities agents.
- Closed sales: 5,575, up 8.9%
- Pending sales: 5,244, up 10.9%
- Median sale price: $208,000, up 16.9%
- New listings: 6,951, up 16.5%
- Overall inventory: 15,773, down 9.9%
Also Thursday, Freddie Mac said that fixed mortgage rates were relatively unchanged from last week, with the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.57 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Septemeber 12. That's a full percentage point higher than last year at this time.
