For Week Ending August 1, 2015

According to a recent study, housing starts are expected to be slightly over a million for the U.S. in 2015, with more than half of those being single-family homes. New home sales are expected to increase by at least 20 percent compared to last year. An increase in housing starts hints at a state of homeostasis for the residential real estate market. More homes means more choices for buyers, from first-timers to upgraders.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending August 1:

• New Listings decreased 8.1% to 1,665
• Pending Sales increased 14.3% to 1,341
• Inventory decreased 10.1% to 17,183

For the month of July:

• Median Sales Price increased 4.7% to $225,000
• Days on Market decreased 7.4% to 63
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 0.8% to 97.6%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 19.6% to 3.7

All comparisons are to 2014

Click here for the full Weekly Market Activity Report. From The Skinny Blog.

For Week Ending July 25, 2015

According to the U.S. Census, homeownership is at 63.4 percent for the second quarter of 2015, down 1.3 percent from the second quarter of 2014. This is the lowest rate of homeownership since 1967. To put that in greater context, homeownership peaked at 69.2 percent in 2004, and the 50-year average is 65.3 percent. Although the data may be indicating otherwise on a macro level, mortgage applications have kept REALTORS® busy through summer.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending July 25:

• New Listings increased 1.2% to 1,804
• Pending Sales increased 21.3% to 1,362
• Inventory decreased 9.8% to 17,125

For the month of June:

• Median Sales Price increased 4.7% to $229,900
• Days on Market decreased 5.7% to 66
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 0.5% to 97.7%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 15.9% to 3.7

All comparisons are to 2014

Click here for the full Weekly Market Activity Report. From The Skinny Blog.