Final Home Sales Numbers: Twin Cities Up 17%

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There was a 17 percent increase in home sale activity in the Twin Cities in 2012 compared to 2011, according to year-end data released by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.There was a 17 percent increase in home sale activity in the Twin Cities in 2012 compared to 2011, according to year-end data released by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

Some of the highlights of the annual figures include:

  • Last year buyers purchased 48,641 homes in the Twin Cities, up 16.9 percent from 2011 and the highest figure since 2006.
  • The 11,875 homes on the market for sale at the end of 2012 was down 32 percent from the same time a year earlier to a 10-year low.
  • The supply of inventory declined 42 percent, to 2.9 months.
  • Median sale price of closed home sales rose 11.9 percent, to $167,900.

“We are very encouraged by the recovery. Listing activity slowed, which led to less inventory, and buyers, motivated by low rates, rising rents and more job opportunities emerged in droves,” Andy Fazendin, President of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, said in a news release.

The association anticipates that improvements in the local economy will boost the Twin Cities real estate market in 2013 with slow but steady job growth, attractive interest rates, and an unemployment rate well below the national average.

Source: MSP Business Journal