The final numbers have come in and home slaes were up more than 25% in January 0f 2012 as compared to January 2011.
January 2011 was also much colder and the unemployment rate was higher. That all made for a really crappy month for home sales. In January of 2012 43.2 percent of all new listings were either foreclosures or short sales. Together distressed properties made up 55.3 percent of all closings.
The good news is that homes in financial distress are exiting the marketplace faster than they are entering it, but are probably holding home values down.
The median sales price metro wide was down a 3.4 percent from January 2011 to $140,000, marking the smallest decline since November 2010.[according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors]
Right now there is a lot of activity in the real estate market but there are still plenty of sellers with unrealistic expectations. I will be writing more about that next week.
The spring market started very early this year. If you are planning on selling your home in the spring consider listing it on Valentines day instead and do the right thing by listing with me because I need the business.
