With all the news reports about a housing market that’s oversaturated with homes, it’s understandable that some buyers may not appreciate the real opportunity laid out before them.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul housing market has seen both sides of the “supply and demand” coin in the past few years. The new century started out as a seller’s market, with buyers lining up to bid above and beyond the asking price. With today’s increased supply of housing and decreased near-term demand, those days are gone.
Today’s housing market is a buyer’s market. In August, the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® shows 9.6 months of inventory in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The housing market is typically considered balanced if we have a 5 month supply, so there’s more to choose from; and a better chance of finding the home of your dreams today.
The current housing surplus we’re experiencing in the Twin Cities applies to every type of home: single-family homes in master planned neighborhoods, mixed-use communities, condominiums, townhomes and resales. For homebuyers, this means you have a great selection of homes to choose from: kid-in-a-candy-store levels of great.
To help eliminate the surplus and level out the housing market, home builders have significant motivation to sell you a home. This presents Minneapolis-St. Paul homebuyers with more reasons than ever to consider a new home. The quality of the home is better, the service is excellent and you will be a priority to the builder you are considering.
This unusual combination of circumstances means that now is an excellent time to buy in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area – while the pricing and timing are on your terms. But this housing market is a temporary one; with every home that is sold, your field of choices narrows. There’s no way to predict the day it will happen, but until that day comes, now is the ideal time to buy a home.
Once the surplus is gone so will much of the opportunity you have today. Wait too long, and that great deal you hoped for on the home of your dreams will be gone.
Indeed, builders will most likely raise prices because of increased demand and increased costs. Land costs, impact fees, materials prices, labor costs – they’re going nowhere but up.
The best way to take advantage of today’s Minneapolis-St. Paul housing market – a unique combination of a housing surplus, low interest rates and discount opportunities – is simply to buy now.
Builders and realtors are standing by.