Minneapolis: New Homes For Hightest Bidder!

Home builders hope to have successful sales of about 200 new homes at the Convention Center the weekend of January 26-27. Between 2003 and 2006, new and foreclosed home auctions have seen the largest percentage growth in the industry. In '03, gross sales receipts for auctioned homes were $11.5 billion and in '06, $16 billion. Norman Mitchel International, one of the partners in the event will tack on an 8 percent fee onto the selling price. The auction at the Mpls Convention Center is unique because it features new homes and not foreclosed homes. All bidders must have a cashier's check to get a bidding number. Bringing the homes to the auction block means significant discounts, often ranging from 25-75 percent.

Best Home Selection. Ever. The Time To Buy Is Now!

2007 real estate in the Twin Cities showed a definite shift to a buyers market. It is a great time to buy a home with interest rates hovering around 6% and a good inventory to choose from in every price range.

-Low interest rates, why wait?
-Peak of affordabilty is now
-Best home selection -ever
-You will wish you had bought today

Call us to get started on your future!

Housing Supply Outlook

The highest growth in inventory from one year ago is occurring in previously owned single-family detached homes- up 18.8 percent from this time in 2006. The lion's share of that inventory increase can be found in that cost below $190,000. In most upper-bracket price ranges, the supply of homes for sale is actually decreasing.

The biggest decline in price per square foot can be found in new construction properties- down 4.7 percent comparing sales from the last twelve months to the twelve months before that. New condominiums especially are being sold at a relative discount price compared to last year, with a drop of 7.1 percent in price per square foot.

Not surprisingly, new construction home sales have declined substantially from the heights of the past few years. Sales of new single- family detached homes have declined the least of all new construction properties.

Affordable housing from unexpected places

In the midst of the mortgage industry credit crunch, we have been starved of upbeat stories about generosity and successful first time home buying experiences. However, this week The Seattle Times featured a story on how the Runberg Architecture Group came up with an unconventional way to help their employees find affordable housing. The owner, Brian Runberg, is helping architects at his firm design and build their own houses. Brian bought land on which his employees can design and build houses, and once the houses are built, employees can purchase the homes at cost. It’s an incredibly ingenious way to help out employees at firm that specializes in affordable housing. We thought some upbeat real estate news is in order and look forward to a great real estate market in the year to come!

St. Paul: Rival Developers Unveil Plans For Riverfront Site

Minnetonka-based Opus Corp. and Wingfield Corp. of Brussels, Belgium, released competing plans for the former jail site. Opus proposed to develop a 23-floor office building along with a nine-floor hotel and 100 condo units. The Wingfield plan would include three towers; an office building, a 45-story residential tower, a boutique hotel as well as restaurants and retail.