For prospective St. Cloud home sellers who have been holding back, waiting for the past months’ chaotic events to quiet down, last week ended with an array of encouraging signs. The national indicators that underpin the St. Cloud real estate climate were almost uniformly promising. After the dislocations that have characterized most of 2020, now, at midsummer, home sellers are finding conditions that look to be much less equivocal.

The realtor.com website offered a concise summary. On Saturday, Chief Economist Danielle Hale’s end-of-week podcast ticked off the series of optimistic indicators:

·         July employment figures showed continuing gains, with the economy bringing back more than 40% of the jobs lost since the pandemic’s onset.

·         Unemployment claims continued to decline.

·         Financial markets notched “the eighth new record low this year for mortgage rates”—2.88% on 30-year fixed mortgages, per Freddie Mac.

·         For the first time this year, monthly data from the mortgage bankers showed a slight improvement in credit availability—an indication that “the worst in the credit pullback could be behind us.”

·         By the beginning of August, median listing prices across the nation had risen a full 9.4% over the same period in 2019—considerably more than most had forecast, and a new high for the year.

·         Despite the robust bottom lines, the typical listed property sold four days faster than a year ago.

The numbers supported the economist’s unabashedly optimistic summary: “The housing market,” she wrote, “has tipped in favor of the relatively small number of home sellers who are actively participating right now.”

For future St. Cloud home sellers who have been uncertain about how the pandemic would affect the nation’s real estate market, clearer signs would be hard to imagine. As Hale put it, in this market, “buyers have to act quickly”—and the same could be said for sellers.

In other words, this looks like a very good time to give me a call!

Providing a superior level of informed, professional real estate services to buyers and sellers throughout Central Minnesota. We have agents specializing in residential, commercial, multifamily, new construction, existing, investment properties, foreclosures/REO, and short sales with offices located in:

Five Office Locations To Serve YOU!

Saint Cloud 320-259-4554
Princeton 320-983-3555
Maple Grove 763-565-2000
Hutchinson 320-455-9127
Litchfield 320-298-1140

Premier Real Estate specializes MANY areas around Central MN including Saint Cloud, Waite Park, Rice, Royalton, Sartell, Royalton, Little Falls, Cold Spring, Saint Joseph, Elk River, Monticello, Ramsey, Saint Michael, Andover, Ham Lake, Anoka, Champlin, Buffalo, Glencoe, Brownton, Silver Lake, Kandiyohi, Dassel, Minneapolis, Maple Grove, Saint Louis Park, Saint Paul, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Brooklyn Center and more!