New listings for homes fell in Saint Paul, Minnesota, during the month of April, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors’ Market Update for 100 Twin Cities Communities. During April of 2008, there were 681 new listings in the City of Saint Paul compared to April of 2007’s 806 new listings. This is a drop of about 15.5%. It is very different from March 2008’s drop of just 4.1%. The Downtown neighborhood of St. Paul experienced the greatest decline in new listings at -42.4%.
In March of 2008, the East Side, Mac-Groveland, North End/Frogtown, Phalen, and West Side/Cherokee neighborhoods had more new listings than March 2007. However, in April, there weren’t any neighborhoods in St. Paul which experienced an increase in new listings. The Mac-Groveland and West Side/Cherokee neighborhoods managed to hold steady, showing no increase or decline for the month of April compared to last year.
Looking at posted new listings of Saint Paul real estate for the 2008 year-to-date, the decrease appears to be less drastic. From January through April of this year, there were 2,515 new listings in the city, compared to 2,637 throughout the same time period of 2007. That is a decrease of just 4.6% new listings in St. Paul so far this year. The most remarkable changes happened in the Phalen neighborhood, where new listings increased by 15.3% while the Merriam Park neighborhood new listings decreased by 32%.
Though some areas had fewer new listings, there have still been more homes put up for sale in these areas overall for the year. It will take more months of reduced new listings to balance the excess in available homes for sale in these areas.
There were more closed sales on homes in Saint Paul, Minnesota, during the month of April. At 233, there were over 8.9% more closed sales than that of last April’s 214. For the year overall so-far, closed sales appear very different, as 5.4% fewer homes have been closed on so far. 681 home sales were closed in St. Paul from January through April of 2008 compared to 721 during the same time period last year.
The downward trend for home sales prices in Saint Paul is continuing. There are still far too many homes on the market, so a decrease in real estate values is to be expected as sellers tried to get rid of their property. The average sales price of a home in the City of Saint Paul was $175,875 in April 2008 compared to $223,773 in April 2007. That’s a decline of 21.4%. The average sales price of homes in St. Paul for the year-to-date is $183,809. During the same time period of 2007, the sales price of a home was $219,273 on average, a 16.9% decrease. The percentage of St. Paul homes which sold at their original list price has increased to 88.8%, a full percentage point increase from March. That doesn’t compare to last year’s 96.3% of homes sold in April purchased for their original listing price. Some St. Paul neighborhoods like West 7th and Frogtown have experienced deep drops in real estate prices, while Crocus Hill and St. Anthony/Midway saw some increases in average sales price compared to 2007. Though in March, prices in the Downtown Saint Paul neighborhood had been climbing compared to last year, in April they began dropping again.
St. Paul homes for sale are staying on the market longer than they did in 2007. In April last year, homes were on the market for an average of 133 days before selling. In April this year, homes were on the market for an average of 153 days before selling. Of course, the amount of time a home spends on the market varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. Last year, homes sold in St. Anthony/Midway and West 7th were on the market less than two months before being purchased, but this year it’s taking more than 6 months in both neighborhoods. During April, Crocus Hill is the only neighborhood which saw a decrease in the amount of days a home spends on the market. A home there spent 155 days on the market when it was sold in April compared to 168 last year.
This is a brief analysis of the St. Paul real estate market based on calculations by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors and the statistics contained here do not reflect all situations. Though much of this information may seem depressing, much of it a necessary market correction which has been happening for a while. It will take time for the real estate market to stabilize, but it predicted things will level off later in the year.
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