Archive for the ‘Lakes Area Minneapolis’ Category
Monthly Minneapolis Real Estate Market Update ‘Skinny’ from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR)
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Linden Hills Southwest Minneapolis Bungalow, Just Listed & Just Sold in 5 Days
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Offered at $489,900, this Outstanding craftsman-Bungalow restoration at 4545 York Avenue South, sits right in the heart of the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. It’s 4.5 blocks from Lake Harriet, 2 blocks from Linden Hills Park, 4 blocks from the Linden Hills downtown, and only about 8 blocks from the 50th & France neighborhood.
I listed this one last Thursday, and we had showings around the clock. The couple who stepped forward and bought this home from my client, picked up one pretty-penny. This home is certainly one of my favorite listings in terms of location, style and quality.
Trehus builders completed this renovation in 2002, while consulting with the American Bungalow society throughout the entire process. All of the details are from the original era, even down to the paint-colors. However, what makes this home different are a few items: updated mechanically and electrically, a front porch as well as a 3-season, screened-in porch off the back, a full-sized 2-stall garage, an integrated stereo system throughout the entire home (with individual room controls) and a high-end movie theater in the lower-level.
The master-suite is a one of a kind, with a dedicated master bathroom, as well as a large, walk-in closet.
For more information, photos and a video tour, please click here: http://zebhaney.edinarealty.com/MN/Minneapolis/55410/homes-for-sale/4545-York-Avenue-S-48113644
Twin Cities Market is Heating up: Pre-Lists for Southwest Minneapolis & Edina
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Buyer activity is increasing, showings are up, and my own buyers and sellers are all now gearing up as well.
Pre-lists (homes coming on the market): 2 in Edina, priced between $400K, and $600K, and 3 in Southwest Minneapolis – Linden Hills and Fulton neighborhoods, priced between $300K and $800K. Most of these sellers are open to pre-list showings, so if you’d like to see any of these homes before they go on the market, please call or email.
Now that the super bowl is cleared, February is here, and all we need are a couple of 40-degree days. Those are the factors that traditionally bring about the ’spring housing market’ in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
Morgan Stanley’s Current State of the National Housing Market, December 2009
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
This article – posted on Morgan Stanley’s investor website – is perhaps the most succinct analysis of the current state of the national housing market that I have read, in a while.
It breaks down and explains – with references and analysis – the primary areas of concern. While some of these areas are not anything new, Richard Berner (author) does a great job of pointing out the housing risks as well as the strong points through the end of 2009 and what to expect coming into 2010.
He warns of payback from the home-buyer tax credit (with scant reference to a smaller, similar situation back in 1975), rising unemployment, possible looming foreclosures being dumped on the market (shadow inventory), and builders competing with the current, sizable inventory of distressed properties.
However, on the positive side, rates are still low, affordability is much better and still improving, and inventory (although still higher than we’d like to see) is still trending lower, which is great.
Minneapolis and Edina Housing Market Update for Week Ending 10/25/2009
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
This video update from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) is a good snapshot of what is happening in our market right now. What it leaves out is what is happening at the upper price-brackets, which I’ll get to in a moment. Also, here is a basic market update on stats such as average days on market until a sale etc.
First: In the Minneapolis and St. Paul area real estate market, we are burning through our supply of foreclosures much faster than we are short sales and with good reason: Foreclosures are much easier to deal with than are short sales. Even though the foreclosure process is after the short sale process, the bank deals and replies to foreclosure offers (usually) in a much timelier manner than they do short sales. Right now our market inventory is @ 2,000 foreclosure units – or about a 2.3 month supply. However, our short sale inventory is @ 4,200 units, which is about a 12.6 month supply (keeping in mind short sales sell less and take longer to sell).
Our housing market will never be in true recovery mode (as a whole) until we A) greatly reduce the existing short-sale and foreclosure (distressed property) inventory B) greatly reduce the potential distressed properties, C) Stabilize the employment sectors and D) See true, tenable signs of recovery in our economy in general. We will really have to let the distressed properties run their course and ‘burn-off’ the current supply and also the future supply (of which it appears there is still a fair amount coming down the pike).
Now does this mean it is doom and gloom in all areas of the our local or national real estate market? The answer is a definite no. As I’ve been saying all along, some micro-markets – at certain price points – within our local and national markets are still holding strong and steady. Examples: Certain parts of Southwest Minneapolis ($175K-$350K) , Edina ($225K-$415K), St. Louis Park ($175K-$250K) and West Bloomington ($175K-$300K) have all had busy activity and strong sales. Of course, the $8,000 home-buyer tax credit and low interest rates have been a great motivator, but these areas usually hold well anyhow.
Upper-bracket sales update: As is much the case nationwide, in general, in the twin-cities, there is a large inventory of upper-bracket homes on the market. In the twin cities metro, we currently have about a 35-month inventory @ $1-million and up. Now this does not mean that a home in the Edina Country Club, South Harriet Park, Parkwood Knolls, or in Kenwood, Lake of the Isles, Lowry Hill, Lynnhurst or Linden Hills will take 35 months to sell, by any means. As I’ve said, the inventory is a 35-month supply, and many areas do much better than others, such as Medina, or Plymouth for example.
One of the difficulties is getting past one great myth right now: the myth that jumbo (loans over $417K) are an expensive, poor product. The truth is, in the past couple of months, jumbo products have come around and been lowered to historically great rates again, and there are now products in which you do not have to do 20% down, and also not have to pay mortgage insurance!
Example 1: A 30-year fixed jumbo can be had for 5.75%.
Example 2: A jumbo, 15%-down option with no mortgage insurance (MI) can be had for 6.1% (as of last Friday).
This is fantastic news for upper-bracket, but the word has to get out there. Right now, in upper-bracket sales, many excellent deals can be had and money (lending) is cheap!
Linden Hills Home for Sale: Southwest Minneapolis Charming Tudor – New Listing: 4035 Xerxes Avenue South
Monday, October 5th, 2009
This new to market listing is located in one of Minneapolis best neighborhoods: Linden Hills. Offered at $389,000, this home for sale is a wonderful blend of old-world English Tudor charm, combined with over $75,000 in updates., in order to make this home a fresh, turn-key home. Please click here to view this listing and take the video tour.
This is a perfect location within Linden Hills, with easy access to Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun, as well as an easy walk or bike-ride to Uptown Minneapolis, or the 50th and France neighborhood.
The backyard is a must see, a true urban retreat. 4035 Xerxes Ave South has a 2-plus garage, 2 new bathrooms, updated mechanicals, an updated kitchen, new roof, gutters, paver-patio, hot-tub, new fireplace (entirely) and much more.
This home is exclusively marketed by Southwest Minneapolis Realtor Zeb Haney and the Edina Realty – 50th & France Office, Edina, MN.
New Edina Realty Listing: Home for sale in Southwest Minneapolis – Lynnhurst Neighborhood
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
4849 Girard Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN is offered for $850,000. This new listing, in the heart of Southwest Minneapolis’ Lynnhurst neighborhood, is on a rare, double-lot, only 1.5 blocks from Lake Harriet. There are multiple, high-end updates and amenities throughout this home, including a new kitchen, 3 new bathrooms, a finished lower-level, roof, windows, updated mechanicals, driveway, landscaping, paver-patio and much more. Please click here to view this listing.
Also: Video Tour of 4849 Girard Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
This home has a great floor plan, and has really been designed and updated for entertaining. The 48th and Girard is a block within Lynnhurst that has many children, making 4849 Girard a perfect home for a family. The location offers great schools, coffee shops, restaurants, wine-bars, boutique shopping, Lake Harriet, the parkway, parks, and easy access to 35W, Hwy 100, and 62, as well as an easy shot into downtown Minneapolis. This home is one of the true gems on the housing market currently.
This home of 4849 Girard Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN is being marketed by Minneapolis Realtor Zeb Haney and the brokerage of Edina Realty 50th & France Office.
Minneapolis and Edina Housing Market Continues to See Improvement
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
While the Southwest Minneapolis and Edina housing market have been fairly stable markets throughout the past 3 years, many other surrounding Minneapolis-area housing markets have been in a continual, declining-mode for the past 3 years. However, as I’ve been noting on this blog, statistics over the past few months have shown continued stabilization thoughout the Southwest Minneapolis metro area.
Key areas of stabilzation are: fewer listings, higher closed-sales activity, less days on the market for active listings, better affordabiltiy (indexes), and still low lending rates. Of course the upper-bracket listings in the entire Minneap0lis-area is a different story, especially at $1 million dollars-plus, but stabilization does not start at the top. At this point, stabilization will have to start at the lower-levels through the middle, and eventually work its way upward, as more sellers are freed up from their homes, and can then make their next move to upsize.
We still need the banks to work on a better jumbo-mortgage product, in order to help stabilize the upper-bracket.
Overall though, we are seeing legitimate, good news. Let’s hope we do not see any further shoes drop in the economic sector. For this to happen, we need less government spending, lower taxes, and stabilization in employment sectors. Of course this is not happening, and this is the current forseeable trouble on the horizon.
First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit to Expire: Buyer’s Must Close By November 30th
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
First-time homebuyers that have been putting off purchasing a home until the last minute will really need to start moving at this point. Considering that they will need to close by Novermber 30th, and that most lenders need 21-45 days to properly underwrite a loan, and for the buyer to have at least 3-7 business days to negotiate an offer and go through the inspection process, this puts the final date you’ll want to submit an offer somewhere between October 12th-November 5th. After that, it will be a very tight squeeze. Also, many loans have been snagging at the last minute, and closings have to go a second round, potentially pushing back the closing date even further (which is why it is very important to work with a reputable lender…I’ve suggested this, ad-nauseum and ad-infinitum).
This means that if you should be targeting and seeing homes with your realtor now, as the final target date (best-case, last-minute scenario) is only about 70 days from now, if you would like the free, $8000.00 from the fed, just for buying a home. This would be a sad tax credit (actual cash in pocket, not a deduction) to miss out on, if you have been seriously thinking of purchasing a home.
How would you like 8 of these $1,000.00 notes?
Home for Sale Minneapolis Lakes Area: New Listing in East Lowry Hill
Monday, June 15th, 2009
2609 Emerson Avenue South, Minneapolis, offered for $450K: this new listing on the market is an excellent, classic home in Southwest Minneapolis, as the craftsmanship, woodwork and floorplan are all a fine example of the best of the Southwest Minneapolis/Lakes-area housing market. This home has 5-bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,712 fsf, and a new 2.5-stall garage. It offers 4 bedrooms on 1 level (2nd floor), as well as a full master-suite on the 3rd floor. The woodwork and built-ins are a must-see.
Click here for more information, photos and a video tour of this home.