Market Update: February 2021

We left off last month pleading for warmer weather, and it appears mother nature finally had the volume turned up, because we are getting it! In the first week of March, we have three days, yes THREE, that look to be in the fifties, with one of those days hovering around the sixty degree mark (checks pulse). While we'll have to wait until next month's recap to see how the warm weather plays into the spring real estate market, the numbers for February are hot off the press, so let's dive in shall we?

We're going to start with the tamest differences that we can compare to last month's numbers. First off, Days on Market. This went down, again, but only by one day. While that's not a drastic change from January, it is a full 50% lower than where it was last February...wow. Another metric we saw stay basically the same is the Months Supply of Inventory - which for the second month in a row now has been under a month. That deserves another wow.

Here's where things get a little intense. The Median Sale Price jumped by over $12k in February, which is the largest increase we can see over the last few years, and probably goes further back than that. The Total Units Sold likely has something to do with this, as it went down during a month where it would historically go up, coming in at a yearly low of under 3,000.

New Listings did go up by about 600, but that is roughly 1,000 less of an increase than we saw last February. Total Homes for Sale is where things really start to hit home, though...the Twin Cities market is now approaching the 4,000 mark in this category. In case you're wondering why that's important, it's because it is less than half of what we saw in 2020, and 2019. This low number of available homes is undoubtedly driving home prices up to historically high levels, and if we don’t see more homes on the market as spring takes shape, we should prepare for them to go even higher.

It's not all doom and gloom, though! Interest rates continue to stay low, and with the warmer weather about, we should see some movement as we look toward March. Navigating this rapidly changing real estate market presents its own challenges, as these times are unlike anything we have seen in years. It’s more important than ever that if you are considering a real estate move, to link up with a professional here at VIBE to help you along the way. Buying a home in this market takes unique and unprecedented strategies to make your offer stand out, and if you have a home to sell, you'll want to have a process that maximizes the potential in every way. Thanks again for reading, and we're looking forward to seeing what March brings us.