More momentum for a housing recovery in the Twin Cities: The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) said this morning that the number of sales in the metro was up 14.6 percent with pending sales up 24 percent. Because sales are increasing and listings continue to decline, the number of listings on the market has fallen to its lowest level since December 2003.
Robust demand, tight supplies and a decline in the number of foreclosure sales means that the median sale price of all closed sales during the month was up 14.3 percent to $179,950, the biggest gain since January 2004. By another measure, MAAR's 10K House Value Index, which takes into consideration the seasonality of the market, a shift towards sales of higher-priced houses and other factors, shows that prices in the Twin Cities were up 5.8 percent compared with last month – the fourth consecutive annual gain.
