March 2024
U.S. existing-home sales improved for the second month in a row, jumping 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units, exceeding economists’ expectations and marking the largest monthly gain in a year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®(NAR). The rebound in home sales comes amid fluctuating mortgage rates and elevated sales prices, indicating there is plenty of buyer demand heading into the spring selling season.
New Listings in the Twin Cities region increased 4.0 percent to 5,261. Pending Sales were up 7.8 percent to 4,028. Inventory levels rose 8.4 percent to 6,879 units.
Prices continued to gain traction. The Median Sales Price increased 2.8 percent to$366,000. Days on Market was down 6.9 percent to 54 days. Buyers felt empowered as Months Supply of Homes for Sale was up 20.0 percent to 1.8 months.
The recent surge in home sales was likely due to a dip in mortgage rates in December and an increase in housing supply nationwide. According to NAR, total inventory grew 5.9% month-over-month and 10.3% year-over-year to 1.07 million units, for a 2.9 months’ supply at the current sales pace. Buyer demand remains robust, and the limited supply of inventory helped push the median existing-home sales price up 5.7% year-over-year to $384,500, the eighth consecutive month of annual price increases.
– SAINT PAUL AREA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
