Saint Paul Real Estate Market Analysis for July 2008

Once again, new listings for homes fell in Saint Paul, Minnesota, during the month of July, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors’ Market Update for 100 Twin Cities Communities. During July of 2008, there were 599 new listings in the City of Saint Paul. In July of 2007, there were 692 new listings, which is a drop of about -13.4%, a bit worse than June's drop of 8.9%. The Mac-Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul experienced the greatest decline in new listings this month at -56.9%. The West Side/Cherokee neighborhoods experienced the greatest increase in new listings over last year at 41, a whopping 86.4% more listings when compared to July 2007’s statistics.

Looking at posted new listing for Saint Paul real estate the 2008 year-to-date, from January through July, there were 4,369 new listings in the city, compared to 4,841 during the same time period of 2007. That means there were 9.8% fewer new listings so far this year. The most dramatic changes have happened in the St. Anthony/Midway neighborhoods, where new listings have decreased by 29.8% while the Phalen neighborhood’s new listings continue to increase with 12.1% more houses for sale than last year.

Yet again, a reduction in the amount of listings has not meant fewer closed sales on homes in Saint Paul MN. At 300, there were 5.3% more closed sales this year in July than the same month of 2007’s 285. This has helped the 2008 year overall closed sales, which has crept up from 3.6% below last years figure to exactly 2.0% under. 1,537 home sales were closed in St. Paul from January through July of 2008 compared to 1,568 during the same time period last year. A fraction more and we’ll be even with last year!

Home sales prices in Saint Paul are still falling. The average sales price of a home in the City of St. Paul was $180,871 in July 2008 compared to $248,104 in 2007. That is a decrease of a rather significant 27.1%. The exceptions to the downward trend were the Saint Paul's Downtown and Highland Park neighborhoods, which saw increases over last year’s prices of 10.6% and 1.5% respectively. The average sales price year-to-date in the City of St. Paul is no better at $183,823. During the same time period in 2007, the average sales price of a home was $234,749, a decrease of 21.7%. The percentage of St. Paul homes which sold at their original list price has decreased to 91.3%. In 2007, 93.7% of the homes sold in July were purchased for their original listing price.

Homes for sale in Saint Paul are staying on the market longer than they did in 2007. In July of 2008, a home in St. Paul was on the market for an average of 133 days before it was sold. In July of 2007, homes for sale in Saint Paul were on the market for an average of 116 days before selling. The amount of time a home spends on the market varies from neighborhood to neighborhood as well. Homes sold in the Mac-Groveland and Como neighborhoods of Saint Paul in July were selling after 98 days on the market.  That might seem fast, but they were selling in 81 and 92 days respectively in July of 2007. It’s taking about 5 months in most neighborhoods. In Southeast St. Paul, it’s taking 195 days for a home to sell.  That’s much better than last month’s 244 days for that neighborhood! Year to date, homes are taking an average of 141 days to sell, compared to 2007’s 123 days.

This is a short review of the St. Paul real estate market based on calculations by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors for the month of July, 2008. These statistics of course do not reflect all situations. Click here if you’re interested in reading June’s statistics.