Local Housing Market Suffers from Inventory Shortage

Starter homes are selling like hotcakes right now with houses getting multiple offers and going for much higher than the list price.

“I’m going to say a typical home under $250,000 is getting at least a half a dozen offers. I’ve seen as high as 23 offers on a house and offers go as high as $50,000 over list price,” says Jerry Moscowitz, a realtor with Re/Max Results. “We’ve seen seller’s markets and buyer’s markets, but the amount of homes right now that are out there compared to the amount of buyers is as one-sided as I have ever seen.”

The numbers tell the story. On Friday, March 2, there were 20 homes for sale under $350k in Brooklyn Park. There were only 11 in Plymouth and only six in Maple Grove.

In the smaller suburbs, which usually have more starter homes on the market, it’s a similar picture. There were only eight homes listed for sale in Robbinsdale, five in Crystal and only two in New Hope.

“If you are not seeing a house in the first couple of days, more than likely it’s gone. We’re seeing 75-80 percent of homes that are coming on the market gone in the first week and if a house stays on the market a week, we’re wondering what is wrong with it,” says Moscowitz.

The winners of this tilted market include homes that are on busy streets or not in the best of locations. In a market where houses are tough to find, these houses might sell more quickly than they would have otherwise.

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