The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) reported last week that April’s median home prices in Maple Grove jumped 42.4 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Maple Grove's median home price was $249,250 in April, up from $175,000 the same month in 2011, according to MAAR data. That uptick mirrored the rising fortunes of the Twin Cities-area housing market where the median home price posted a 12.4 percent year-over-year increase.

Meanwhile, while the number of completed home sales in Maple Grove rose from 71 in April of 2011 to 94 this past month; the city's year-to-date total closed sales is up 32.4percent from the same period in 2011, MAAR reported.

Across the Twin Cities region, Realtors pointed to several signs that the real estate market is bouncing back.

In general, Minnesota homes are selling at their fastest pace in some time and prices are continuing to climb over the same levels reported a year earlier. The median sales price for the Twin Cities metro area for April 2012 was $163,000, up 12.4 percent from April 2011. That's the largest year-over-year jump since January 2004.

On average, homes sold in 135 days, down 14.9 percent from last April. Sellers received an average of 93.3 percent of their list price, up from 90.1 percent last April. Cash buyers made up 20.7 percent of all closed sales, down from 24.8 percent at this time in 2011.

"We're impressed with the accelerating improvements," said Andy Fazendin, MAAR’s president-elect. "High-quality, move-in-ready inventory is limited. Those waiting for falling prices will likely be disappointed."

The number of homes for sale has dropped for 15 consecutive months, down 29.2 percent from last year to 17,312 active listings – the lowest inventory reading for any month since January 2004. Months supply of inventory—the amount of time it would take to sell every home on the market--dropped 44 percent to 4.6 months, the lowest reading for any month since August 2005.

Foreclosures and short sales continue to decline as a percentage of real estate transactions. Traditional sales made up 57.1 percent of all closings and went for about 50 percent more than foreclosures, generating the strong gain in overall median sales price.

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