Our MLS (mulitple listing service) added some new functionality this past summer. I used to have to download data onto an Excel spreadsheet so that I could make charts and graphs. Now I can grab the data and create the chart without ever leaving the MLS. Since most of the homes that are sold in St. Paul are listed in the MLS that gives me a lot of data to play with and I really do like data.
Keep in mind that real estate is local and since I specialize in St. Paul, Minnesota . . hence the name of the blog . . I made some charts to show home sales and median prices in St. Paul for the last five years. Kind of a big picture look at local real estate. A couple of years ago I wrote that no one would ring a bell when the prices hit bottom and we would never know that it happened until after the fact. It happened in 2009 but it will happen again this year. It may have happened already but prices tend to go down a little in the fall and winter. For home buyers with jobs and money to buy a home this is a good time to buy but the inventory of homes on the market is low so it takes longer to find that perfect home.
I like to remind sellers that they can sell. Homes sell every month . . honestly I am not making that up and I promise you home will sell much quicker if it is on the market. If you plan on buying another home start looking as soon as you have your home on the market.
St. Paul Homes sales and Prices – 5 Year
2011 is not over yet and I will predict that the number of homes sales will be the same this year as it was for 2010. When we look at the same chart for rental properties it shows that the median price dropped like a rock (technical term) but has been going yo since 2008. Rents have been steadily increasing around the metro area and there are shortages of rental property in Minneapolis and I suspect the same will be true in St. Paul before the year is over.
Rental Properties St. Paul, MN
The data used to create the charts was generated by the North Star MLS and is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.
[…] sales prices have plummeted – median home prices in Saint Paul crashed by nearly half from 2007 to […]