October Gets Chilly in the Maple Grove Real Estate Market

Ever since the beginning of the year, the unseasonably warm winter months seemed to help buyers off the fence and bring buyers into the market at rates that inventory had a hard time keeping up with.  Just as home sellers have begun to catch on however, the October winds started to blow and cooled the average temperatures by an average of 8.5 degrees in October and cool things down in the market.

While home sellers stayed flat with exactly about the same amount of new listings this October compared to October 2011, home buyers slowed for the first time this year as they chose to stay warm instead of buying houses.

< See Picture 1 - October Data >

Despite total sales cooling down, there was one bright spot which continued in the Maple Grove real estate market. Traditional sales, or those homes being sold by the owner with no bank mediation (short sale or foreclosure), increased by 13 percentage points even as total sales were down bringing up the average sales price for 2012 to $266,390 compared to $233,922 in 2011. Data provided by Northstar MLS.

< See Picture 2 - Sales by type >

One final note: While I usually stay focused on Maple Grove Real Estate, when Warren Buffet generates news on his support of the market in whole, it's worth a link.  Here's the latest sign that the entire housing market is getting stronger.  When among the most successful investors ever says it's hit it's lows it's worth a look ( http://www.cnbc.com/id/49635038 )

David J. Garves

www.maplegroverealestateinfo.com

dgarves@themlsonline.com