Real Estate Information

The April Statistics are in so we will give you a quick rundown:

            New Listings are down 8.4% for this month versus this month last year and down 4.2% for year to date.

            Closed Sales were up 27.9% for the month over this month last year and were up 28.2% for year to date. My gut feel is that May will be good also?

            Median sales price (middle point of all sales) is up 5.7% for April over April 2012 and up 3.4% for year to date.

            Percent of Original List price Received is up 1.8% to 96.9% for April over April 2012 and up 2.0% for year to date.

            April inventory of homes for sale is down 19.2% from 2012, 2012 was down 8.9% from 2011. That is very significant drop in inventory!

Ok, how to summarize this? Listings are down, sales are up, houses are selling for better list to sale price, and inventory is down dramatically! Sounds like we could be changing this market around? We are not seeing huge price increases but they are holding steady and maybe seeing slight increases.

Now put this good news together with today’s artificially induced low mortgage rates, It really sounds like a great time to buy a house. However you are not going to see the selection of homes to choose from that you did even a few months ago. It is Time To Act Now!

I saw this article & wanted to share it with all our database considering how many trees and Branches are down, we should all read this article put out by Illinois University! http://urbanext.illinois.edu/icedamage/

Comment if this was helpful for you?

Be Safe everyone!

Harlan and Mark

Take a look at the article and Sioux Falls Rankings:

Texas, Ohio Communities Gain - California, Oregon Fall in Economic Strength Rankings

Forty-five of the 69 community statistical areas in Texas improved their national rankings for economic strength in POLICOM’s annual analysis of the nation’s economies. The state now boasts five metropolitan areas in the top 20.

Communities in Ohio displayed remarkable improvement as 27 of its 45 statistical areas bettered their rankings. "For many years communities in Ohio were on a downward slide, like many mid-west states. It appears that trend has been reversed," commented William H. Fruth, President of POLICOM Corporation.

POLICOM, which specializes in analyzing local and state economies, annually ranks the 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 576 Micropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States for "economic strength" - the long-term tendency for an area to consistently grow in size and quality.

Communities in California and Oregon appear to have had the sharpest decline in the rankings. For each, 79% of their communities dropped from their 2012 ranking.

For the third year in a row, the Washington DC metropolitan area, which is comprised of 17 counties, ranked as the strongest local economy in the United States. Driven by Federal government spending, between 2007 and 2011 the area added 40,000 federal civilian and 60,000 professional service jobs with combined payrolls now exceeding $32 billion annually.

Concord, the capital of New Hampshire, is top among the 576 micropolitan areas for the 2nd year in a row. Micropolitan areas are smaller economies and do not have a city with a population greater than 50,000 people.

Three North Dakota micropolitan areas - Dickinson, Minot, and Williston - have leaped into the top ten as a result of the energy boom in the western part of the state.

POLICOM Corporation – 2740 SW Martin Downs Blvd. #279 – Palm City, FL 34990 PH: 772-781-5559 – fruth@policom.com – www.policom.com POLICOM Corporation – 2740 SW Martin Downs Blvd. #279 – Palm City, FL 34990 PH: 772-781-5559 – fruth@policom.com – www.policom.com

"The top rated areas have had rapid, consistent growth in both size and quality for an extended period of time," continued Fruth. "The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation.

The study measures 23 different economic factors over a twenty-year period to create the rankings. The formulas determine how an economy has behaved over an extended period of time. Data stretching from 1992 to 2011, released in January, 2013, was used for this study.

POLICOM has created this study each year since 1997.

For the economic strength rankings for all areas, go to www.policom.com.

Welcome to 2013! It looks to be a good year in Real Estate!

We got the year end & December statistics so we are going to give you a wrap up of 2012.

We had 5% more Listings in 2012 than we did in 2011. Closed sales were up by 19.7% from 2011. Median Sales price was up by 5.8%. Percent of original list price received was up 1.6% from 2011. The Inventory of homes for sale was down 11.3% average for the year and down 18.4% at the end of December. This inventory is at historical lows! Since Jan 2003 we had only 1 month in 2004 and about 4 months in 2005 that we had this low inventory of homes for sale. Now go back a second, we did have 5% more listings this year than last year and we still have historic lows in inventory of homes for sale.

The price range that has the best gains in sales numbers was the $200,000 to $300,000 price ranges. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $150,000 to $200,000 range at 83 days. Those above $300,000 sold the slowest at 108 days. The current price range with the lowest inventory of homes is the $100,000 to $150,000 at 3.0 months supply of homes on the market, (this number is slightly different than Our Supply & Demand Numbers on our web site as these are based on only one month’s activity versus ours is based on the last 3 months)

We saw many signs of recovery throughout 2012. Assuming interest rates and job growth cooperate, 2013 should be another positive year for housing!

Anyone wanting to get on this Real Estate Success Train, jump on board as soon as you can! Buyers & Sellers will benefit in this market! Call us to board our train!

Here are some good tips for you if you are buying or selling!

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/01/02/10-tips-for-buying-and-selling-homes-in-2013/

Good article to check out how to save energy? Check it out:

http://members.houselogic.com/articles/energy-money-savers/preview/

After you look at this, come back & let us know what you thought about this article, do you want more ideas on this line?

Check out these links: Sioux Falls and South Dakota rank # 2 by someone watching where the best places to live if you are under 40:

http://www.money-rates.com/research-center/best-states-for-young-people.htm

Our local Media did a great article on it as well, Check out KELOLand's article:

http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/sioux-falls-for-the-under-40/?id=137901

Pass this blog & links onto everyone in our community, We are a great place to live & should be very proud to boast about it.

Have A Fantastic Day!

Wow! Sioux Falls did it again! Sioux Falls made national news headlines! Housing in Sioux Falls is ranked as the # 10 position in the Country in affordability! This article confirms what we have been telling our clients, friends, & Realtors in other parts of the country. Here is the link to the Money Magazine Article: http://money.cnn.com/gallery/real_estate/2012/08/20/best-places-affordable-homes.moneymag/10.html  In addition Homes are selling very good right now. We have a monthly report on Supply & Demand, go to this page of our web site: http://www.siouxfallsrealestate.info/Buyer-Resources/Buyer-Suggested-Reading/SUPPLY-OF- HOMES-ON-THE-MARKET

Check it out and tell your friends and family that we sent the link to you from our Blog, If you would, please comment on this blog after you look at it. We would like to hear what you have to say on this subject? What do you think is this true for our city?

I was reading this article in our Real Estate Magazine. There are some great tips in here. I have done some of these to my personal house. I might not do all of them to all houses or might not do some of them at all but it is a super place to start out. Read this & then do me a favor & come back to this blog & tell me what YOU thought about this article.  We would love to come look at your house with this article in mind & give you ideas on your house. Call us!

http://realtormag.realtor.org/home-and-design/architecture-coach/article/2012/08/25-quick-cheap-and-easy-home-sale-tips?om_rid=AACVOE&om_mid=_BQM-NOB8tkUm-V&om_ntype=BTNMonthly

Have a Fantastic Day!

Take a look at this article that tells you how good living in Sioux Falls really is! We have enjoyed living and raising our family here, Our Clients have told us this, Now others recognize how good our city Sioux Falls South Dakota really is! Wow! Take a look at this article!

http://living.msn.com/family-parenting/back-to-school/slideshow?cp-documentid=252918239#10

Call us to find our how we can get your family into this great town to raise your family!

Harlan & Mark