My note today is just to say that I was looking at inventory levels and noticed that there are only 17 homes for sale in Corcoran and there are 10 homes pending.  That’s a remarkable ration of pendings vs. actives.  Normally we can divide the pendings in to the actives to get the months supply.  The base of supply is so small in Corcoran that I’m not comfortable saying that there is a 1.7 month supply of houses.  Part of the reason I can’t do that is that Corcoran covers a very large geographic area and the homes for sale range from $100,000 to $1.5 million.  There is not a lot of uniformity in the housing stock.

All that said, this is about as little supply as I’ve seen it in Corcoran.  Typically there would be more than 30 properties for sale at this time.

Below is the link to the chart for the median home sales price for Corcoran, MN from 2005 through January 2012.  Also, check out the Corcoran Home Search.

Median Sales Price for Corcoran.

Related articles

• Lawler: Declining Inventory of Existing Homes for Sale: Don’t Forget Conversion to Rentals (calculatedriskblog.com)
• January 2012 Pending Home Sales Highest Since 2005 (johnmurphyreports.com)
• Spring Meadows Plymouth, MN – Photos of Ongoing New Construction (northwestplymouth.com)
• County Road 116 and Hackamore Intersection to Get Traffic Lights – Medina and Corcoran (johnmurphyreports.com)

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Fannie Mae economists are out with their forecasts for 2012 and they expect the housing market to have a modest, positive impact in the overall GDP numbers in 2012.  This is the first time in years that housing will be a net plus to the GDP rather than the net negative drain it as been for the past few years.

Fannie Mae says, “economic indicators suggest a pickup in construction of apartment buildings and a modest uptick in single-family construction. Still, there are challenges that could emerge derailing 2012 growth projections.”

Related articles

• FHFA pushes for privatization of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (agbeat.com)
• Gov’t seeks smaller role for Fannie, Freddie (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Fannie Mae Serious Delinquency rate declines, Freddie Mac rate increases (calculatedriskblog.com)
• HUD Secretary Donovan Calls On Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac To Do More For Troubled Homeowners (thinkprogress.org)
• Fannie Mae CEO steps down during troubled times (agbeat.com)

Big Builder is the industry news source for large national home builders.  The study is called, “Housing 360: Insights into Homeownership” where they surveyed 3,000 people and conducted six focus groups. They need to stay on top of the multi-billion dollar new home business and it’s very interesting to read their analysis and insight regarding today’s home consumer and what they are thinking. Apparently many are in the same boat as one gentleman was quoted as saying, “If I could get a full-time job with a decent salary, I’d buy a house.”

Some key highlights of the Housing 360 report:

• 7 out of 10 think now is a good time to buy a home
• Many who bought homes during the boom wish they hadn’t – (perhaps a little buyer’s remorse?)
• 25% of survey respondents are underwater on their homes
• 72% still believe it’s important to own their own home
• 67% say that their current home is fine – general across the board apathy among potential home buyers
• 47% are concerned that if they did sell in order to go buy a new home, would they get a fair price for their current home?
• Of those surveyed who are renters, only 25% said their current home is fine, however, 45% of the renters said there is no urgency to move
• Concerns are high about down payment expectations and whether or not they will even qualify for a mortgage

This is by far the most informative article I have read about the current state of potential home buyers and sellers.  The National Association of REALTORS publishes a report each year, but all too often that just seems to come off as too self serving.  This, on the other hand, is very insightful.  I highly recommend you read the article and for those who want the actual research report, please see Hanley Wood Housing 360: Insights into Homeownership.

On a more local note, while this report details what the home builders must do to attract new construction home buyers, clearly the home builders operating in Plymouth, Maple Grove, and Medina Minnesota are doing an outstanding job given the recent explosion in construction and sales activity. To stay on top of what’s happening locally in the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis, be sure to check out Northwest Plymouth where I continue to chronicle the rebirth of the Twin Cities home construction market.

Related articles

• UK home ownership levels may never recover, expert says (money.marksandspencer.com)
• Home Affordability Currently at 1971 Levels (theevergreenscene.com)
• Is Now The Time To Consider Real Estate To Round Out Your Investment Portfolio? (connecttimes.com)

For more information, check out the official site to Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, MN.

Related articles

• 9 Stunning Spots for Natural Ice Skating Around the World (treehugger.com)
• Eleven Cities Ice Skating Tour (janetnewenham.wordpress.com)
• Back-yard skating traditions (kellyjomcdonnell.com)

If you recall Mortgage Backed Securities were all the rage in the investment community leading up to the housing crash.  They were then shed like the plagued and the Federal Reserve has been one of the only significant buyers of MBS in the past couple of years.  Now prices are up 15% and appear like they will continue to rise.  I suspect they’ll continue to climb for the next couple of years as the housing market goes in to full recovery mode and the Federal Reserve can start to unload the approximate $1-$2 Trillion it holds in MBS.

The money interests are now betting that we’ve seen a turn in the housing market.  Please don’t be confused with higher home prices.  I think we’ll continue to see overall home price declines in 2012.  It’s been my sense that we’ll start to see a consistent rise in home prices by the spring of 2013 but by then investments in housing will be significantly higher once the printed numbers show house price appreciation.

Related articles

• Economists: Job Growth Won’t Deter Fed From Another Massive Stimulus (huffingtonpost.com)
• US MORTGAGE MEMO: Fed Buys $6.25B Agency MBS In Week Feb. 8 (forexlive.com)
• Fed Officials Push For More Aggressively Helping Housing Market (huffingtonpost.com)
• Home-Price Scorecard Shows a Falling Market (blogs.wsj.com)
• Daily Reads: Operation Twist Is Twisted, Gross A Treasury Bull? (learnbonds.com)

If you’re interested in new construction in Plymouth, MN be sure to request the free report – Plymouth MN New Construction Report.

Spring Meadows Monument NW Plymouth MN

While the REO inventory is down there appear to be plenty of addition properties that are making their way through the pipeline and are in some stage of foreclosure.

Related articles

• LPS: Mortgages In Foreclosure Process at an All-Time High (calculatedriskblog.com)
• Question #3 for 2012: Will foreclosure activity increase in 2012? (calculatedriskblog.com)
• Is the real estate market improving-FHA troubles (kimberlyburnett.wordpress.com)

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEGreg Sax, Communications Manager Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® 952.988.3123 (office) 612.860.2668 (cell) gregs@mplsrealtor.com David Arbit, Market Analyst Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® 952.988.3150 (office) davida@mplsrealtor.com January Pending Home Sales Highest Since 2005 Minneapolis, Minnesota (Febuary 10, 2012) – There were 3,149 purchase agreements signed in the 13-county Twin Cities metropolitan area during January, a 25.5 percent increase over last January. No doubt driven by a mix of record-low mortgage rates, affordable prices, strong negotiating leverage and unseasonably warm weather, that’s the highest January pending sales figure since 2005. Sellers were less active, as new listings fell 9.0 percent from January 2011 to 5,112 properties. The number of homes for sale continued to drop, as well, down 28.1 percent from last year to 16,463 active listings – the lowest inventory reading for any month since 2003. Another important housing metric, months supply of inventory, remained at a six-year low of 4.6 months. “If you look deeper into the strong sales figures, you can see which segments are leading the charge,” said Cari Linn, President of the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®. “With inventory down, especially among foreclosures, and good purchase demand, buyers are finally looking harder at traditional properties.” Traditional sales surged 28.7 percent, while foreclosure sales fell 2.9 percent and short sales increased 16.8 percent. For sellers, the landscape is shifting. For six consecutive months, sellers received progressively more of their asking price than they did the year prior. In January, sellers received an average of 91.2 percent of their original list price. Sellers are also watching market times closely. The average number of days a listing spends on the market before closing was down 8.3 percent to 142 days—the fourth consecutive year-over-year decrease. But those looking to sell their properties should be aware of distressed market activity. In January, 43.2 percent of all new listings were either foreclosure or short sales. Together these lender-mediated properties made up 55.3 percent of all closings. Homes in financial distress are exiting the marketplace faster than they are entering it, but they have still managed to prevent market-wide price appreciation. The median sales price was down a modest 3.4 percent from January 2011 to $140,000, marking the smallest decline since November 2010. “Price declines are subsiding, partly thanks to changes on the supply-side of the equation. Rising home prices will still be the final phase of recovery,” said Andy Fazendin, MAAR President-Elect. “We firmly believe that what we’re seeing now is setting the stage for better times ahead.” All information is according to the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® (MAAR) based on data from the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. MAAR is the leading regional advocate and provider of information services and research on the real estate industry for brokers, real estate professionals and the public. MAAR serves the Twin Cities 13-county metro area and western Wisconsin. ###

Related articles

• Twin Cities Weekly Real Estate Market Update, week ending January 28 2012 (craigkamman.com)
• Las Vegas House sales up 12% YoY in January, Inventory off sharply (calculatedriskblog.com)