Minneapolis Real Estate Blog

While newspaper headlines continue to shout about the falling sky in the real estate market, there is a bright spot of hope for those who bought at the high end of the cycle. The way to capitalize on the current price deflation is to have one’s property taxes reassessed to more accurately reflect the current […]

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Unfortunately for those of us with rather old houses or poorly built foundations, yesterday was the day that the snow melt seeped into our basements. My house was build in 1908 and consequently the foundation has a few defects. Hence, this morning I woke up to a basement filled with water which had soaked into […]

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During the real estate boom of the last few years appraisers have been under pressure from realtors and home owners to inflate the prices of homes. Seller’s agents and home owners obviously wanted a higher price so that they could make more money. Banks were largely silent and complicit in this home price inflation because […]

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Minneapolis and St. Paul real estate maintained their market value pretty well during the recent downturn because of the strength of the Minnesota economy. Now with the recent 1% reduction in the Fed Funds Rate, real estate in the Twin Cities is poised to make a complete recovery.
Single family foreclosure rates are up in the […]

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The easiest way to analyze any market is to look at supply and demand. Right now in the Twin Cities, supplies are certainly higher than they were last year at this time. Sept 2006 supply/demand ratio was around 8.3, this year it was 12.2 in September. The good news is that projected November ratio is […]

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The truth about the current housing market  remains more complicated than a  30 second evening news soundbite can convey. While there are some  weak spots  created by the subprime mess, the overall picture is far from gloomy. Consider some of the facts presented recently by the NAR, the National Association of Realtors.
The National Association of Realtors […]

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It appears that stiffer credit requirements and increased down payments are finally percolating down to the new construction business. August home starts were down almost 9% year over year and reflect the larger trend towards a cooling in the housing market.   Twin Cities existing home sales are still strong, but the trend appears to be […]

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In an effort to preserve property values and retain the kid friendly character of their neighborhoods, hundreds of people have petitioned the St Paul City Council over the last year to limit sober houses. Residents of certain areas of St Paul, such as Merriam Park, have complained that the density of facilities that house recovering […]

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Today’s Fed Discount Rate cut signals good news for those looking to buy a house in Minneapolis. Home prices are down in the Twin Cities, making living here an affordable proposition again. There are opportunities to buy houses at 2005 prices and in some cases even 2004 prices. Foreclosures and short sales are increasing dramatically […]

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Virtually every person out there has heard about the subprime mortgage crisis and the possible spreading of the difficulties to higher rated mortgages. Couple that with the current downturn in housing prices and you have all the ingredients for panic. But wait, hold the phone, the sky is not falling yet.
Housing prices are not yet […]

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