Median home prices went up in St. Paul last year by less than $2000. The low supply and high demand had an impact but maybe prices are starting to level off.
The median home sale price in St. Paul was $280,000 in 2023. It was $155,500 in 2014. I’ll go out on a limb and predict a small increase in the median home price in 2024.
Here is a chart that shows how many home sales there were in St. Paul, Minnesota, in each of the last five years. Home sales hit a record low for the entire region.
The main reason for fewer home sales is that fewer homeowners wanted to sell. We can blame higher mortgage rates. This phenomenon is nationwide, more or less. I think we will see more home sales in 2024 than we did in 2023.
The data used to create the graph was extracted from the NorthstarMLS which is deemed reliable but isn’t guaranteed and doesn’t come with a report writer.
December was a quiet month for local residential real estate sales with fewer homes listed for sale and as a result fewer sales. Home sale prices were on average slightly lower than listing prices.
There were fewer new listings in St. Paul than there were accepted offers on existing listings. As a result, the small inventory of homes for sale got smaller. Once again the rules of supply and demand are keeping prices up.
Most years home sales and new listings start to tick up in January.
The numbers used in the table were extracted from the NorthstarMLS. The data is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. For more local real estate data see Local market conditions and home prices.
Home sales were down in 2023. It wasn’t like 2009 when houses languished on the market. Homes that were put on the market sold quickly in 2023. In fact, for most of the year, there was less than a 2-month supply of homes for sale.
The higher interest rates caused homeowners to want to stay put. There are always people who need to sell. They relocate for work or the homeowner dies or sometimes retirees decide to unload second homes or rental properties that they own.
Speaking of rental properties, rents fell slightly in 2023. Maybe 2024 will be a better year for renters.
In 2011 the local housing market hit rock bottom in home sales and prices. There were 2999 home sales that year. There were 2737 in 2023, which appears to be a record low.
The data used to make the chart is from the NorthstarMLS deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Housing is being absorbed which means people are buying houses. Currently, there is less than a two-month supply of houses that are for sale. That it would take less than 2 months for all of the houses on the market to be sold.
This really is a good time to sell a house. It isn’t that great of a time to buy but people are buying. The combination of high prices and high-interest rates is not keeping buyers on the sidelines.
Remember real estate is local and always changing.
This just in from our state Realtor association:
Higher Interest Rates are slowing home sales.
Sales continued to soften in October even as listings rose slightly. Home prices increased modestly, further hindering overall affordability. Sellers listed 3.2% more homes than last year, marking the first year-over-year increase in new listings since May 2022.
Would-be sellers are reluctant to list due to the “lock-in effect” where homeowners are clinging to their attractive mortgage rates and monthly payments. Most sellers must turn around and become buyers, and buyers are feeling the triple pinch of low inventory, rising prices, and higher rates.
“After mortgage rates hit a 20-year high they’ve fortunately come down a bit, offering some reprieve to uneasy buyers,” said Emily Green, President of Minnesota Realtors®. “That said, every region is different but sellers who are willing to list might be pleasantly surprised.”
October Year-Over-Year Summary of Key Market Indicators:
Closed sales: 5,794 (down 7.1%)
Median sales price: $330,00 (up 3.1%)
Average sales price: $386,493 (up 3.0%)
New listings: 7,180 (up 3.2%)
Pending sales: 5,192 (down 3.7%)
Days on the market: 37 (up 2.8%)
Homes for sale: 13,997 (down 0.4%)