There was no shortage of home buyers in the Twin Cities last month, but sellers were scarce.
During March, buyers signed 5,861 purchase agreements, a 12.6 percent increase compared with last year, according to a monthly report from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.
And while there were 7,922 new listings — a negligible 0.5 percent increase — there were only 11,893 properties for sale at the end of the month, a 20.6 percent decline from March 2015.
"The small gain in seller activity was nice, but it falls well short of the supply levels needed to sustain the demand we're seeing," said Judy Shields, Minneapolis Area Association of Realtor (MAAR) president, in a statement. "That should be motivating for sellers, but it's still important to understand that your home needs to be priced right."
With housing listings in short supply and many would-be buyers frustrated at the lack of options, closings during the month were down 2.8 percent.
The median price of those sales was $222,000, a 5.7 percent increase from last year at this time.
By every measure, it continues to be a seller's market.
Houses are selling in, on average, 85 days — a 17.5 percent decline. At the current sale pace all the properties on the market would last just 2.5 months, a 28.6 percent decline and the third lowest on record. And sellers are getting nearly their full list price, the percent of original list price received was 96.7 percent.
