Roseville's Median Home Sales Price Continues Climbing

For the 12th straight month, the Twin Cities' median home price has risen, continuing the metro area's housing market rebound, according to data released this week by the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors (SPAAR).

The Twin Cities' median home price was $160,000 in February, up 15.5 percent compared with the same period a year ago, SPAAR said in a news release. 

Roseville kept pace with the metro-area trend as its median home price reached $179,900 in February, up 24.1 percent from $145,00 from the same month a year ago.

Brian Thistle, manager of Edina Realty's Roseville branch office, told Patch," We saw a 15 percent increase in pending sales in February over the same month last year.

"It also seems like the cold weather has kept sellers from listing their homes and there is high demand for good listings locally," Thistle added. 

SPAAR officials noted the Twin Cities' falling inventory of homes available for sale has helped push up the median home prices , resulting in a stronger market for sellers. "Homes are selling faster, for a greater percentage of their initial list price and for higher prices," they said.

In the Twin Cities, days on the market before sale fall precipitously from 144 to 113 days and sellers are receiving a stronger 93.7 percent of their original list price as compared to 90.7 percent just one year ago, according to a SPAAR news release. 

SPAAR also had this to say: Inventory has slipped to a six-year low at only 2.9 months supply. Months supply of inventory is a measure of how many months it would take to sell off all existing inventory, at current sales rates, with no additional new listings added.

The declines in new listings of homes for sale also include a diminishing number of foreclosure and short sales, once a key source of inventory for the marketplace, SPAAR officials said. They noted new listings have dropped nearly 10 percent compared with last February to 4,855.

 “Winter months are typically the leanest months for inventory. I would expect to see an inventory uptick in the spring and early summer months,” said SPAAR President Kate Beckman. “Anyone who has been holding their home off the market waiting for improvement may wish to contact a realtor for a market anaylsis; the results just might pleasantly surprise the would-be-seller.”