Market Update: August 2021

Goodbye Summer

September always seems to be filled with mixed emotions. On one hand, it's still warm out and there's plenty of fun outdoor things to do that keep us happy - such as stuffing our faces at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. On the other hand, we all know cooler days are on the horizon, so we button up our flannel, head to the apple orchard, and sprinkle extra cinnamon on that pumpkin spiced latte. 

But what about the local real estate market? How does that react to the change in season? Does it care if it's cold or warm out? Or whether it needs to think about finally getting snow tires this year to get up that absurdly steep driveway? Or is it remotely possible that real estate shifts are more based on large societal trends such as the start of the school season, response to a global pandemic, and considerably low interest rates? Let's peel back the onion and find out as we examine the market data that August has brought us.

We'll start by looking at the average and median sales prices - that's the exciting stuff, right? The median sales price has stayed the exact same now for three continuous months, landing once again at exactly $350,000. The average sales price, however, jolted up again after a small decline the month prior, and is now the highest that we have ever seen in the Twin Cities, coming in at over $413k...wowza. 

Just looking at the above paragraph, it would seem like everything is continuing to get more intense than we've been seeing since COVID-19 first hit, but the inventory levels are starting to tell a bit of a different story. New listings in August actually went down for the second month in a row, landing at 7,136, and total listings on the market stayed almost exactly the same as July at 7,148. We saw a healthy uptick in total units sold, though, getting back up to 6,225 - a sharp contrast to the declining numbers we saw in July.

Lastly, and maybe the most telling number from the month, is days on market. This has been on the decline since March, and has consistently been about a week. That is a great indicator of the overall demand, as it tells us how fast people are jumping on the homes they see. Well, this is now back to double digits, as August came in at an average of 10 days on market.

So overall thoughts? The data tells us that the demand is definitely still there, but people maybe just aren't as quick to jump on something as they have been over the last year or so. It would seem the buyers are getting a little more disciplined in their approach, and now more than ever, sellers need to make sure their property stands out above the competition if they plan to get the price they want. At VIBE, we love to help strategize an effective game plan regardless of which side of the table you're on. Connect with one of the many amazing agents here if you plan to make a real estate move anytime in the near future - you won't regret it.