I have not posted absorption rates for metro area housing since last September. Am I bad? In September I needed a wet dry vac to absorb the excess inventory but I think this time around some paper towels will do the job.
Absorption rates are a calculation of how long it will take for all the homes on the market to be sold, or absorbed, at the current rate of homes sales and with the current number of homes on the market. I do love numbers and these numbers are in months, the data used came from the RMLS, (MLS) and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Sadly there are no guarantees in life.
These are for the seven county metro area, which is like the 13 county metro area except smaller.
Anoka County 8.7 Months
Carver County 7.9 Months
Dakota County 8.1 Months
Hennepin County 9.1 Months
Ramsey County 8.5 Months
Scott County 10 Months
Washington County 9.5 Months
In the past absorption rates have been higher in December than they are in September not the case this time around, they have gone down which means that it should take less time to sell a home now than it did a few months ago and for buyers it means fewer choices but it is still very much a buyers market.
For more local housing market numbers and pictures of cotton swabs, wet/dry vacs and even diapers please see Local market conditions and home prices.
It’s good to see the absorption rate dropping for Minneapolis homes. I’ve got to wonder though how much of the decrease is just due to people pulling their homes off the market after being unable to sell. I think at the slightest sign of an improving housing market we’re going to see a huge built up demand among sellers who have been waiting for their opportunity to sell. In my neighborhood (South Bryn Mawr), we’ve had 10 or so homes come on and off the market in the past year without selling.