Saint Paul - Minneapolis Housing Market Report

According to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller national home price index, Minneapolis - St. Paul area home prices rose 3.2% from July to August. That is compared to the 1.2% average increase for the 20 cities tracked by the index. The only city which failed to show price improvements was Cleveland.

That is the fourth consecutive month of improvement for the Twin Cities, as well as the nation. It is also the second month in a row that Minneapolis - Saint Paul came out on top of the index, as prices rose 4.6% from June to July.

In the Twin Cities and nationally, home prices have a long way to go before recovering what they've lost:

The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors reported the August median home price for the metro area was $175,000. Case-Shiller data show August prices in the Twin Cities area are about where they were in August 2001.

Between the end of the selling seasons and continued economic uncertainty, prices could sink significantly in December and January. Whether or not the first time home buyer federal tax credit is extended will also have a significant effect on the market.

David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, said the Twin Cities may be on the top of the index for the second month in a row because the area's prices peaked and bottomed earlier than the other areas tracked.

The median price peaked in September 2006 at $229,000 and bottomed in April at $153,000.

The fact that real estate prices in the Twin Cities didn't get as high as in other large cities means that the recovery is happening a little bit more easily.