You may think I’m crazy to make a statement like that since real estate was swirlin’ down the toilet in 2009. But it was better than 2010, which may have been the ugliest year in real estate history.
I believe the upcoming year will resemble 2009 as far as number of sales (an increase of 17%) and amount of time on the market before a sale. I also predict the average sale price will increase, as will the median price. Demand for higher priced homes will increase and overall inventory will decrease. Party on, Garth.
On the surface this sounds better than it actually is. Even though the general market is slowly recovering, sellers will still not see much change in the price of their home. I don’t see much of a decline, but I also don’t see much of an increase either. The average sale price is going up because there are really good values in the upper brackets.
Homes that are selling for $350k – $500k used to sell for a whole lot more. These homes are affordable because of historically low interest rates and a slowly recovering economy. In fact, the Minneapolis area is one of the areas that is showing a strong recovery when compared with other areas.
This is what is driving the average sale price upward. Buyers are getting great deals on more expensive homes. The biggest price range increase was in the $1,000,000 and over. The number of sales increased 26.2% over the previous year. Other price ranges has also shown a better average price for the same reasons.
Bargain Hunter Alert! There is nearly 7 months of housing inventory below $150,000. A year ago it stood at 2.8 months. And the total number of sales is down nearly 25% from the previous year. This is a great market for first time homebuyers, so give us a call, you’ll be blown away by how much home we can get for you.
Chanhassen real estate had a pretty tame ride overall in 2010. The number of listings were up from 679 t0 690, about 2% increase, but the number of sales dropped 14% from 310 to 266. This means homeowners have about a 40% chance of selling their home. Pricing will continue to be the most critical element toward a successful sale. Even though I believe sales will be up in the Chan area, sellers will still be faced with downward pressure on price. I also predict buyers will continue to be a pain in the butt.
But the trend is toward a more “normal” market. 2011 will mirror 2009 and to me that is a reason to party.
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