Monday, August 25, 2008

Owatonna, MN Real Estate Market Conditions, August 25, 2008


Interest Rates finished the week last week at 6.375% for a 30 year fixed on Monday August 25, 2008. That is up just a bit. Interest rates have continued to be a bit unstable. We don't see interest rates coming down anytime soon.

Current real estate listing inventory - 218 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has stayed fairly constant. We would like to see it down about 30 listings but at least it hasn't soared this summer like last year.

The number of pending listings is at 38 homes. This continues to be a good pending count however it is down a bit from previous levels. We look for it to fall quite a bit this week as we reach the end of the month.

There have been 196 properties Closed so far in 2008. Closed activity has been great over the last two months. There were 267 properties closed at this same time last year so we are down in the market 27% over 2007. BUT WE ARE STILL SELLING HOUSES! The real estate market hasn't come to an end. We will be doing a chart at the end of the month that shows how the market over the last 5 years.

Take a close look at the comparison charts. The closed chart is showing that over 43% of the homes that have closed this year had a price change and the average price change is just over $15,753. vs 55% of the active listings has had a price change (up 3%) and that average price change is $13,580. This has several possible reasons 1) Sellers are seeing the need to adjust the asking price of their home into the correct price range, to generate showing activity and offers. 2) More & more sellers are coming onto the market initially at the correct price. Take a look at these charts. Active Comparison Chart - Pending Comparison Chart - Closed Comparison Chart .

Give us a call and let us show you what is happening in the market right now. 507-390-2121



We have all of our listings available via Virtual Tour in English, Spanish and also in French

Monday, August 4, 2008

Owatonna, MN Real Estate Market Conditions, August 4, 2008


Interest Rates finished the week last week at 6.125% for a 30 year fixed on Friday August 1, 2008. We have seen interest rates bounce around from 5.75% to 6.25% recently. The bond market has been flaky and that leads to instability in the home mortgage market. We don't believe that rates are going to drop much, if at all.

Current real estate listing inventory - 215 active listings in Owatonna as of today. The active listing count has remained relatively stable for the last two months. The market activity has continued to be strong. we have seen quite a few new properties come on the market but the inventory is staying at fairly stable levels.

The number of pending listings is still at 44 homes. This continues to be a good pending count when you take into account the number of homes that closed in the last two months. The number of pending has not fallen as much as we expected.

There have been 177 properties Closed so far in 2008. Closed activity has been great over the last two months. We have seen the closed count climb quite a bit.

Take a close look at the comparison charts. The closed chart is showing that over 46% of the homes that have closed this year had a price change and the average price change is just over $15,945. vs 52% of the active listings has had a price change (up 8%) and that average price change is $13,454. This is a change in the market, for the first time the active listings have a higher percentage of price changes than the closed. This is a fantastic shift in the market Take a look at these charts. Active Comparison Chart - Pending Comparison Chart - Closed Comparison Chart .

Give us a call and let us show you what is happening in the market right now. 507-390-2121



We have all of our listings available via Virtual Tour in English, Spanish and also in French