Rising prices and a shortage of starter homes hobbled home sales in the Twin Cities last month.
During April there was a 7% decline in closings, but the median price of those sales rose to a record $281,000, according to a monthly report from the Minneapolis Area Realtors (MAR).
"Things still seem to be rebalancing a bit," said Todd Urbanski, MAR president. "Low and stable rates have definitely helped, and so has the ongoing economic expansion."
Throughout the metro, demand for inexpensive houses that are affordable to first-time buyers and downsizing baby boomers exceeds supply, putting many would-be buyers on the sidelines.
The imbalance is slowly changing.
Though there were fewer properties on the market at the end of April than there were last year, there was a 4.5% increase in new listings during the month.
With an annual increase in new listings for seven of the last eight months, buyers have more options. Pending sales — a measure of future closings — were down just 1.1% compared with last year.
Despite the decline in sales, houses are still selling quickly, but not as briskly as last year. On average houses sold in just 56 days, but that was slightly slower than last year at this time.