New Home Sales, Minnesota Mortgage Demand Decreases in January

In some areas, Minnesota home prices have been dropping.

It looks like they may need to fall a lot further, however, in order for sales activity to pick up in the state.

According to the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors, sales of new homes in the state were down in January, while new listings placed on the Twin Cities housing market increased.

The association reported that 8,931 new listings were added to the system during the month - a 4.8 percent increase over the number of new listings added to the multiple listing service in January 2006.

Closed home sales, meanwhile, fell behind from one year ago: The number of sales was 2,502, a 10.1 percent drop from January 2006. The most likely reason was hesitance on the part of Minnesota mortgage seekers to buy until prices were even more affordable.

There were slightly more than 25,000 active listings of existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses in the 13-county metro area, according to the group.

The change in reported closed home sales dropped 15.1 percent. Median sales price reported for the 13-county metro in January 07 was $225,000, down 0.75 percent from the same period last year.

Pending sales fell by 5.6 percent from last January, to 3,230 from 3,420. But the figure was up 17.5 percent from December 2006, providing hope that demand for mortgage loans in the state could soon return.

Housing statistics include existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses.