Inver Grove Heights' Housing Market Shows Continued Improvement

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Inver Grove Heights’ real estate market mirrored the positive statistics experienced throughout the Twin Cities last month.

Numbers released by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors on Wednesday showed signed of a continued recovery in Inver Grove’s house-selling market in November.

While the median sales price last month was down compared to November 2012, figures for Inver Grove's closed sales, average sales price and percentage of original list price received were positive.

Taking a glance at the MAAR’s Local Market Update for November 2012:

CLOSED SALES: Inver Grove Heights recorded 30 closed sales last month, compared to 28 in November 2011. Looking at closed sales during the first 11 months of the year, there has been a 32.4-percent increase this year as compared to 2011.

MEDIAN SALES PRICE: The median sales price last month was $171,450, compared to $178,000 last November.

AVERAGE SALES PRICE: Last month’s average sales price of $228,994 was 7.2 percent more than a year ago.

PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT: Last month’s price per square foot of $94 was $2 more than November 2011.

PERCENTAGE OF ORIGINAL LIST PRICE RECEIVED: Sellers received on average of 93.4 percent of their original asking price, compared to 89.7 percent last November.

Click here to view the entire local market update.

TWIN CITIES STATISTICS

Across the Twin Cities region, the market recovery continues: In November, according to MAAR, buyer activity outperformed year-ago levels, inventory dropped and, for a ninth consecutive month, home prices rose compared to 2011.

The median sales price was up 16.9 percent to $173,000, partly a result of decreasing supply vs. continued demand: The number of homes for sale fell 29.4 percent to 13,860 active listings– the lowest such number since January 2003. 

With prices on the way up, Cari Linn, MAAR’s president, expressed hope that more sellers will step into the market: “Price gains combined with more competition among buyers for less supply should be appealing to homeowners looking to make a move in the near future.”

The dropping number of “distressed sales” (foreclosures and short sales) is playing a big part in the rising market. Overall, new listings were up 0.2 percent. However, traditional new listings were up 27.8 percent while foreclosure and short sale new listings fell 21.1 percent and 45.7 percent, respectively. Thus, a pullback in bank-mediated listings has diluted a significant increase in traditional seller activity.

Similarly, closed sales were up 20 percent overall, but traditional sales were up 50.4 percent while foreclosures and short sales were down 14.9 and 2.7 percent, respectively. Homes sold in the traditional manner made up 64.2 percent of sales, foreclosures 24.6 percent and short sales 11.2 percent.

Months’ supply of inventory fell 40.6 percent to 3.4 months. Figures below 4.0 months of supply are typically hallmarks of sellers’ markets. Homes tended to sell in 104 days, on average, 25.9 percent quicker than last year. Sellers received 94.3 percent of their list price, on average, up from 90.9 percent during the same month last year.