Housing Market Creates ‘Sense of Urgency’
Home buyers in the northwest metro will have more options this time of the year as housing supply goes up. Last year, demand spiked while new listings declined partly due to COVID-19.
Brandon Doyle, with Maple Grove-based Doyle Real Estate Team and Re/Max Results, says the urgency in buying homes this year means working around the clock.
“For our buyer clients, we’re having to show a lot more property. A lot of it is sense of urgency,” Doyle said. “You need to make sure you’re available nights and weekends because that’s when people want to see the houses.”
Doyle said inventory in Maple Grove is up 40% since April of last year. According to statistics by Minneapolis Area Realtors, in Plymouth listings went up nearly 10%. Minneapolis Area Realtors also reports half of homes get sold within a week of listing. The realtor group reports it’s the fastest time frame in at least 14 years.
“A lot of the homes are going to come out of market Thursday or Friday. They’re going to want to look at offers on Sunday,” Doyle said.
Demand Soars Despite Record High Prices.
Twin Cities metro home prices rose 10.5% since last year. In Maple Grove, prices went up 17.3%, said Doyle.
“That’s a combination of higher-priced homes being listed but also equity increase across homes at all price points,” he explained.
While supply rebounded to that of pre-pandemic levels, increase in demand was even greater. Doyle suggests buyers first do their research on a home they like and the put in a good offer as soon as possible.
“Most buyers are having to make three to four offers. It takes losing a couple of them to understand what the market is like. You have to come in above asking,” said Doyle.
Another major factor in the demand is the historically low 3% mortgage interest rates. Currently, the Twin Cities only has a month’s supply of inventory. Typically, four to six months is considered a balanced market. Doyle said the good news is you can expect a lot more listings coming during this time of the year.
“Sellers are consistently hearing about how their neighbor or coworker got 40,000 over list and multiple offers,” said Doyle. “Now they’re starting to think maybe it’s time for me to make that move as well.”
