In Roseville, Housing Market Tilting to Sellers

It's beginning to be a tight housing market in Roseville.

For the 13^th consecutive month, the Twin Cities’ median home sales price rose. And so did Roseville's, continuing the metro area's sustained rebound in the housing market, local real estate associations reported this week. 

An increased number of pending sales and new listings of traditional, non-distressed properties were other signs of the housing market’s mini-boom.

In March, the Twin Cities’ median sales price was $176,000, up 17.4 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR).

In Roseville, the median sales price was $176,250 in March, up 5.5 percent from the same period a year ago, according to MAAR data. 

Meanwhile, there were 34 completed homes sales last month in Roseville, down a scant three sales compared with March, 2012. That was an 8.1 percent drop. .

Sellers Getting Quicker Deals

But perhaps the most noteworthy news from the latest market report was the metro area's- and Roseville's-smaller inventory of available homes for sale. And the quicker pace at which sellers are forging deals with buyers.

In Roseville, the number of days the typical home is on the market until a sale was 113 days in March, down from 161 days or nearly a 30 percent drop from the same period a year ago. 

Meanwhile, Roseville's inventory of available homes for sale fell from 4.3 months supply in March, 2012  to 2.1 months supply last month, a 51.2 percent decline.  And that trend is favoring sellers. 

"The markets really heating up and we’re seeing multiple offers regularly in and around Roseville which is driving the increase in sale prices,"  Brian Thistle, Edina Realty's Roseville branch manager, told Patch. 

Across the metro, there were 3,632  completed, or so-called closed, sales in March, roughly the same as a year ago, MAAR reported. But there were 4,656 pending sales in March, a 6.6 percent increase over 2012.

And since the first of 2013, completed home sales are up 3.1 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012, according to the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors (SPAAR).

One factor that is helping fuel increasing median sales prices has been the rising percentage of all new listings that were traditional, non-distressed homes. That figure is now 75 percent, its highest level since May 2008.

“We closely monitor the mix of homes that sell,” Andy Fazendin, MAAR president, said in a press statement. “It’s evident that foreclosures and short sales are comprising a smaller share of overall listings and sales compared to recent years. This is great news for the traditional market.”

Another factor helping boost median sale prices is recently there has been fewer homes up for sale. Inventory levels have dropped 31 percent to 12,615 active listings, marking a new 10-year low, according to SPAAR. 

The Twin Cities region has three months supply of inventory this March, down 40 percent from five months supply last year at this time, the St. Paul trade group said.