Not much different than the absorption rates I published last month. The numbers say that the inventory of homes on the market it low. I noticed when I did my chart of home sales by neighborhood last week that the number of new listings was lower than expected for May. Will there be a shortage of homes for sale that will drive prices up an end the housing crash? Nope. Buyer demand remains low while at the same time rents in some areas are going up. People need jobs and money an excellent credit rating before they can buy and that just isn’t happening even though interest rates are astoundingly low, as in 4.5%.
Anoka County 5.0 Months
Carver County 6.0 Months
Dakota County 4.8 Months
Hennepin County 4.0 Months
Ramsey County 4.7 Months
Scott County 4.7 Months
Washington County 5.2 Months
Absorption rates are a calculation of how long it will take for all the
cotton swabs-absorbent enough
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. The numbers tell us if we are in a buyers market or a sellers 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 and are for the last 30 days.
For more local real estate numbers see Local Market Conditions & Home Prices
These rates are just broad-level stuff, right?
Does it account for a $250k 3-bed 2bath in a nice hood likely going faster than a $25k Category 2, or a $1.2million house on Summit Ave?
Are there different metrics for this, or do you just go by the macro-level stuff to get an overall idea of the general picture?
yes these are what you call broad level and include homes of all prices and in all neighborhoods. I do a monthly home prices and sales by neighborhood for St. Paul but not for the entire metro area. In general the lowest priced homes still sell the quickest the 250K home you mention will sell quickly but only if it is a bargain. It needs to be the same quality as a 275K home.
The real estate market is very interesting from an economic, supply/demand standpoint.
In some respects it seems to represent a total commodity, but in other respects, it can be just the opposite.