Weekly market activity update

As the holidays loom, activity in the the Twin Cities housing market that isn't lender-mediated (i.e. foreclosures and short sales) is quieting down quickly, while the lender-mediated market is plugging along with no discernable effect from the usual seasonal ebbs and flows.

For the week ending December 13 there were 1,240 total new listings and 556 pending sales, which are up 2.2 percent and 36.3 percent, respectively, from the same week in 2007. Of these new listings, 48.0 percent of them are lender-mediated, while a hearty 60.0 percent of pending sales are. The market share comprised of these lender-mediated homes has been growing steadily every week for the last several months and should either hold steady or continue to grow through the rest of 2008. Traditional sellers always pull back this time of year—banks do not.