Without a question, the new construction sector has catered to move-up and executive buyers since the recession. Most of the new homes built since the Great Recession have catered to the $400,000+ buyer; a result of increasing land, labor, and material costs for new homes. Prior to the recession townhomes were the answer for first-time…read more
Yesterday I attended the annual 2016 Condominium and Townhome Development Summit where we discussed the state of the industry, trends, etc. I follow this sector of the real estate sector very closely and often speak at seminars regarding this topic. Although this sector of the real estate market was hit the hardest during the downturn…read more
This article from CNN summarizes why 2016 will be a good year for buyers. Simply stated…home prices are near pre-recessionary levels in the Twin Cities, the supply of homes should increase come Spring 2016, mortgage rates are still low..even should the Federal Reserve raise the benchmark in December 2015, and rents continue to escalate where…read more
The Twin Cities real estate market continues to favor sellers; due in part to the low inventory of homes for sale. In a normal market, there should be a supply of homes for about 5 to 6 months; however many markets are experiencing extremely low home inventories which as resulted in transactions that are favoring…read more
Boomerang buyers; or those who lost there home during the Great Recession, are beginning to enter the real estate market. Some 8 million households lost their homes during the recession. Since the housing crisis; many households have repaired their credit and may be buyers again. Typically, credit repair takes about 7 years after a foreclosure…read more
Recently the US Census/Commerce Department published its annual Characteristics of New Housing report and to no surprise from real estate experts….today’s buyers desire larger homes. The average size of a new home decreased during the Great Recession; however as the new construction has been rebounding over the past five+ years home sizes are growing again. …read more
Historically, starter homes have been a prominent housing type within the new construction segment. Prior to the peak of the real estate market in 2005/2006, starter homes priced under $200,000 represented a major share of the housing inventory. However, since 2005 the number of new homes priced under $200,000 had declined substantially. Today, there are…read more
This past week my family I returned from the sunshine state where we vacationed in beautiful Fort Myers, Florida. For the 2nd year in a row, we utilized the website VRBO.com and rented a townhome in a master planned community. VRBO is an amazing website that let’s homeowners, investors, etc. rent their real estate to…read more
About 25% of home purchases in Minnesota have been cash sales (i.e. no mortgage). This is lower than the national average of 36% and is down from a few years back in the Great Recession. During the downturn and ensuing Great Recession; real estate investors purchased homes at discounted rates and accounted for a significant…read more
The number of homes that have been flipped in the Twin Cities is down considerably as the market continues to show positive momentum. Investors were particularly attracted to flipping homes during the Great Recession when lender-mediated properties could be purchased for cents on the dollar; resulting in instant equity to the new buyer. together with…read more
