A Perfect Storm Helps December Home Buyers

The weather outside might be frightful, but the climate of the Twin Cities real estate market is a day at the beach for well-qualified home buyers.

According to the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors, November's median home price in the 13-county Twin Cities metro area dropped 2.5% to $165,700 in November. Home sales declined 39.1% while pending sales, an indicator of future activity, were down 3.3%.

A report from Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors shows a small improvement on the housing supply front. It shows that while housing inventory levels are still increasing, the rate of increase has been tapering off. Active listings are down 9.6 percent from last year.

Additionally, the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index indicates Twin Cities home prices dropped 2.1% from August to September. Among the 20 cities the index tracks, that drop was the second worst. Cleveland had the biggest decrease.

Finally, the snow from December and the holidays may become a perfect storm that continues to keep people from buying this month, further suppressing sales and home prices. The middle of this holiday season could very well add up to a primed buyers' market.