Minnesota Real Estate Agents: Don’t Call Local Housing Market a Slump
Let’s get one thing clear, real estate agents in the Mankato, MN area say: Call this a buyer’s market, call it a stabilizing of prices, but don’t call it a slump.
While slowing sales and declining prices do have economists and Wall Street analysts worried, there is evidence the local housing market is not suffering as significantly as it is in other parts of the country.
Why is this the case? Largely because home values in the Midwest did not rise as dramatically in recent years, nor fall as far now, as in other parts of the country, reports The Mankato Free Press.
“I don’t think things react as dramatically here in rural Minnesota as they do in the Twin Cities or on the East or West coasts,” said Ronald Anderly, a broker/owner with Century 21 First Choice Realty in Waseca.
Nevertheless, local sellers are waiting longer to find mortgage loan applicants interested in their properties; the must be more competitive on the price.
Houses around Mankato are sitting on the market for around four months. That’s nearly a month longer than the average seller would have waited to sign a deal in 2005. So there has been a slowdown, as demand for home loans will hopefully pick up in the near future.
Karla Van Eman, of American Way Realty in Mankato, said she tries to set the right expectations with sellers from the start.
“Sellers need to be realistic on the pricing and know the buyers have more to choose from,” Van Eman said.
Anderly said there are about five percent more homes on the market now than about a year ago.
“The good news for buyers is there is a good supply of properties,” Van Eman said. “Two years ago, someone called in and wanted to look at six houses and there were four left by the time they came in. Now they have 15 they can look at.”
Moreover, said Anderly, buyers are still benefiting from low mortgage rates. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is at 6.3 percent, according to Freddie Mac.
Van Eman and Anderly said the most popular price range for homes sold is between $125,000 and $150,000.
In the Twin Cities, the Builders Association reported recently that home-building has slowed dramatically. There were 759 new units built in September, compared to 1,445 a year earlier.