Typically for Twin Cities home buyers, when summer ends the real estate market activity wanes. However, the tides have turned because of the short supply in house listings, putting sellers and buyers in a frenzy. The imbalance between real estate players, buyers and seller, became apparent in the previous month as evidence by data that appeared Monday.
Homes sales rose to 7.8 percent but new listings were not unchanged. As a result the total number of homes sold by the end of August fell to almost 14 percent, according the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.
"Buyers are starting to feel a lot of pressure," Star Tribune quotes what Marcy Wengler, a sales agent for Edina Realty, said. "They are more inclined to want to run out and see houses the day they hit the market, even if they are not meeting their criteria."
On the other hand, Bob Clark, president-elect for the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors, says that the constricted rental market, the return of positive home equity and anticipation of future interest rate increases helped drive a busy selling activity over summer.
As of last month, it was reported that the average time a home sits in the market was 64 days. The median price of all sales was at $224,900 which is a 2.7 increase over 2014 and homes were sold at 99.3 percent of their final asking price. However, those number are not true in all places in the metro area because overpriced houses and those that need more work are not selling as fast.
"Although buyers in certain areas and specific price points are feeling pressure, they are also very knowledgeable about home values and will not overpay," Wengler added. "If you are in a hot area or price point, and the home sits on the market because it is overpriced, sellers will experience longer market time and be forced to work through price reductions."
