Market Update: September 2021

Oh the times, they are a changin'

We won't lie, it has been a bit challenging to predict the real estate swings throughout this year. An interesting mix of increasing values across the board, combined with the Minnesota seasonal trends have left us always wondering how the next month is going to turn out. September was no different, and perhaps a bit telling of how the rest of the year will turn out. Shall we dig in?

Most notably, let's start with sale prices. Now, we've known that the increases in average and median price points were unsustainable, but what we didn't know is how fast they would take a dip. Last month, the Average Sale Price went down by its largest margin for the whole year, dropping by over $22k, and landing at $391k - wowza. The Median Sale Price also went down by about ten thousand dollars, coming in at $340k.

Did a ton of new listings come on and outpace the buyer demand? Is that why the sale prices dipped? Not necessarily...New Listings actually went down for the third straight month in a row, coming in at 6,539. Now looking at the Total Inventory, we did see it go up by over 600 additional units in September, bringing us to 7,727, our highest amount for the year, but not only is this expected for the beginning of the fall season, it's also still way below where were at last year during this time - by a few thousand, in fact. Total Units Sold went down overall, and now matches the same amount of units sold in April of this year, coming in at 5,127.

Lastly, we see that the Twin Cities Months Supply of Inventory continues to inch its way upwards throughout the later part of the year. It is still only at 1.4 months, and a healthy number would be closer to two or three months, which is still a great indicator that the market continues to favor sellers at this time. Days on Market is now back up to double digits, landing at twelve days on average across the board.

So what does all of this mean? Well, it seems the market is starting to show signs of balancing out a bit, which is a very welcomed direction for those of us in the real estate world. It seems to be in a bit of a healthy place, where not every single house is selling for multiple offers the first day it's on the market, allowing buyers more than five minutes to decide whether or not they want to offer on a home. I believe we'll also start to see purchase agreements themselves return to less aggressive tactics (i.e., buyers no longer waiving inspections, lower amounts of earnest money, less appraisal gap coverages, etc...).

Stay tuned for next month's recap, as we eagerly await to see if these trends continue, or if this was just a late summer blip. As always, if you're looking to buy or sell real estate in this quickly changing marketplace, do yourself a favor and connect with a VIBE agent to help you navigate the process - you'll be glad you did.