Metro housing market 'anemic,' realtors group says

By Jim Buchta, Star Tribune

Published July 11, 2007 in the Star Tribune

The Twin Cities housing market has been "anemic" so far this year, according to the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors.

During the first six months of the year there were 20,034 closed sales of existing houses compared with 23,834 a year earlier. That's a 16 percent decline over the same period last year.

The median sale price of those home sales was down, too.

It fell 2.17 percent from $230,000 during the first half of 2006 to $225,000 this year.

"The massive attention focused on the subprime lending market and foreclosures, adjustment to tightened lending guidelines and the continued pressure of unprecedented inventory levels has had a negative impact on our local market," according to Steve Hyland, president of the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors.

Another culprit has been an unrelenting supply of unsold homes, which have hovered at record levels.

They're still high, but are showing some signs of subsiding. On July 1 there were 35,100 active listings in the Twin Cities metro area compared with 32,200 a year ago.

"Buyers are waiting for the market to settle out," said Hyland. "It's going to take another six to nine months for this market to return to full stability, and I'm confident we will begin to see upward movement again."

Jim Buchta is at jbuchta@startribune.com.




"© Copyright Star Tribune. Republished with permission of Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent of Star Tribune."