September 26, 2007

Current listing inventory - 256 active listings in Owatonna as of today. Inventory dropped again over the last couple of days and that continues to be a good sign. Average days on the market in Owatonna has bumped up a bit to 150 days. The number of pending listings has remained fairly stable at 41 houses. Average days on the market has climbed up to 170. This big change is due to some of the longer term listings getting offers. There have been 301 properties Closed properties since 01-01-07, with an average days on market time of 125 days. There continues to be encouraging signs this week. Showings on our listings have increased slightly & the active inventory has dropped again. These signs are positive for us here in Owatonna.

Last year at this same time, we had Sold 333 homes with an average day on market time of 92 days. So 2006 compared to 2007 we are down 11.3% in sales (not as bad as much of the media would lead you to believe). The big change however, it has taken 26% longer to sell those homes in 2007 than it did in 2006.

If you are a seller in todays market you have to realistic on your price, have everything ready to go on your house, AND be patient while waiting for your home to sell. As we mentioned above it is taking an average of 170 days (5 1/2 months) for homes to go pending right now. In addition there are several price ranges that have been more active in 2007 than others. You can click on the link to review the Market Absorbtion chart.

Interest rates climbed slightly to 6.25% on September 26, 2007.

September 24, 2007

Current listing inventory - 260 active listings in Owatonna as of today. Inventory dropped again this week and we are hoping that is going to be a trend that will continue. Average days on the market in Owatonna has bumped up a bit to 150 days. The number of pending listings has remained stable at 40 houses. Average days on the market has leapt up to 160. This big change is due to some of the longer term listings getting offers. There have been 299 properties Closed properties since 01-01-07, with an average days on market time of 124 days. There have been several encouraging signs this week, the active inventory has dropped again, pending listings have remained even, and 11 homes closed last week. All of these signs are positive for us here in Owatonna. Are we out of this slow down completely? We don't believe so, but the signs are certainly pointing in the right direction.

Last year at this same time, we had Sold 333 homes with an average day on market time of 92 days. So 2006 compared to 2007 we are down 11.3% in sales (not as bad as much of the media would lead you to believe). The big change is, it has taken 26% longer to sell those homes in 2007 than it did in 2006. If you are a seller in todays market you have to realistic on your price, have everything ready to go on your house, AND be ready to be patient while waiting for your home to sell. In addition there are several price ranges that have been more active in 2007 than others. You can click on the link to review the Market Absorbtion chart.

Interest rates remained calm at 6.125% on September 24, 2007.

September 18, 2007

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a half point to 4.75 percent. This is some of the news we have been waiting for. Hopefully today's movemnet by the Fed will stimulate real estate activity.

What does this mean to us here in Owatonna, MN? We aren't sure yet at this point exactly what the reaction will be from the real estate market and from the mortgage lenders. Experts are mixed as to what effect this cut will have on the real estate market and whether or not we have reached the bottom of this housing slump.

We believe that any rate cut at this time is good and the Fed held the door open that more cuts may be coming in the future.

The stock market certainly liked what it saw this afternoon as Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve cut.

Home buyers, if you have been sitting on the fence watching the market for the last several months now may be a good time to start getting serious about house hunting and talking to a lender. Most of the good lenders offer rate lock protection and one-time float downs if you lock in to a rate and the mortgage rates drop before you close on your new home. Check out the offerings from your local lenders or from Brenda Bednar at Advisor's Mortgage, LLC.

September 16, 2007

Current listing inventory - 268 active listings in Owatonna as of today. Inventory dropped slightly last week and we are hoping that is going to be a trend that will continue. Average days on the market in Owatonna has remained stable at 149 days. The number of pending listings has risen just a bit this week to 40 houses. Average days on the market is 137. There have been 288 properties Closed properties since 01-01-07, with an average days on market time of 124 days. Interest rates climbed again last week to 6.125% on September 14, 2007. All eyes will be watching the Fed on Tuesday. The Fed is expected to drop interest rates that should spur more market activity.

September 10,2007

Current listing inventory - 269 active listings in Owatonna as of today. Inventory has again popped up slightly last week and we are hoping that it is not going to climb significantly. Average days on the market in Owatonna has climbed slightly and is at 149 days. The number of pending listings has fallen this week to 39 houses. Average days on the market is 129. There have been 283 properties Closed properties since 01-01-07, with an average days on market time of 123 days. Interest rates dropped twice last week to 5.75% on September 6, 2007. Home Buyers - If you've been sitting back, waiting for the right to to jump in and purchase a new home, it is looking like now may be a good time. Finally, it seems the Fed is taking the slump in the real estate market seriously and the recent job sector loss seems to have been the key point. The Fed is projected to drop interest rates on 9-18-07 and that should spur more market activity.

September 4, 2007

Current listing inventory - 261 active listings in Owatonna as of today. Inventory has again dropped slightly and that continues to be an excellent sign for home sellers. Average days on the market in Owatonna has actually dropped a tick again and is 144 days. The number of pending listings has fallen this week to 40 houses, but this was to be expected as we approached the end of the month. Average days on the market is 129. An interesting stat since last week, we jumped up 24 days in the days on market count in the pendings. That is due to several of the long time listings (2-400+day listings, 1-300+day & 5-100+ day) finally getting an accepted offer. There have been 281 properties Closed properties since 01-01-07, with an average days on market time of 122 days, we are continuing to see homes get sold. A very encouraging indicator this week is the fact that we have had 15 homes close since last week but the pendings have only fallen by 6, which means we were seeing good home selling activity this past week & the last week of August is traditionally one of the slowest weeks of the year. Interest rates have remained stable at 6.125% on August 27, 2007. Home Buyers - If you've been sitting back, waiting for the right to to jump in and purchase a new home, it is starting to look like now is a good time. The Fed is expected to drop interest rates on 9-18-07 and that should spur more market activity.