ST. CLOUD – Prospective buyers looking to get a new house in May — historically one of the busier months for home sales — had only 148 homes to choose from in the St. Cloud metro.
That's fewer than half the homes available in May 2020, according to data from the St. Cloud Area Association of Realtors.
And in the St. Cloud area — which includes St. Cloud, Waite Park, St. Joseph, Sartell and Sauk Rapids — the average time a house spent on the market before being scooped up was just 20 days in May, down 51% from May 2020.
It's also more than a week shorter than the state average of 29 days, which is down 37% from last May and is a historic low, according to Minnesota Realtors, a membership organization supporting all 22,000 Realtors in the state.
The median price for homes statewide also increased to $310,000 in May — an all-time high for sales price and high-water mark for the year-over-year percentage increase of nearly 16%.
The central Minnesota counties of Stearns, Benton, Sherburne and Wright also set a record with $300,000 as the median sales price in May.
"We just don't have enough properties in any part of the state, which is the real surprising part. But [the St. Cloud area] is really being hit by it, which is why we're seeing the percent of original list price received over 100%," said Chris Galler, chief executive of Minnesota Realtors.
"Homes are selling for more than what they're listed for because we're having so many multiple-offer situations," he said. "And that, of course, drives up the price in the central region. It's up 17.5% for the month of May. I don't think incomes were keeping up at 17.5% so it becomes a long-term problem for us."