Even in a market that has shown some softening, nice homes that are priced right are still selling.

It may be that homes in the upper price ranges in the Twin Cities North Metro Area are suffering, but the $175,000 - $275,000 homes are still moving when they are appropriately priced for their location, style, age, and condition.  While some first time home buyers may have fallen out of the market due to more strict lending practices; investment buyers are out there hunting in the same price ranges and looking for good deals.  It pays to know the absorption rate for different market segments as well as for your specific location.  Just because the new luxury homes in Blaine's "The Lakes" development are sitting on the market for over a year - that doesn't mean a nicely priced starter home or town home in the same area is going to be difficult to sell.

What new anchors and pundits like Charlie Gibson or Jim Cramer say on ABC and CNBC may be 100% accurate for their area or on the nationwide statistics; their data and predictions are not necessarily true in YOUR local real estate market.  There are several areas of the country where the statistics do not reflect the gloom and doom forecasts you see on television as of late.  In some respects, current market conditions are closer to "normal" or neutral  than they have been in a very long time.

One of the biggest factors that is having an effect on the LOCAL real estate market is the fact that there were huge tracts of wetlands in Anoka County that became exempt from federal protection and were developed.  There is a large number of newer, larger, and luxury homes that have been built in the past 10 years.  Yet Anoka County has a substantial number of nice starter, move up, and luxury homes that were built in the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

Absorption rates are a important factor to consider determining the price your home, but you need specific local information.  Absorption rates are calculated by taking the number of homes currently available for sale and using previous sales records to estimate how many months it will take (statistically speaking) to sell all of the homes currently listed on the MLS.  In other words, if no more homes were placed on the market, how long would it take for all of the homes currently listed to sell?

This can be further analyzed by factors like the age or style of home.  For example, in Anoka County, using the latest month's sales figures and the current number of active listings, it would take 11.06 months to sell all of the single family homes in the county.  Townhomes would take 12.16 months, Condos would take 6.6 months, and Twin Homes would take 12.6 months.  Now let's break that down and compare that to a couple of cities in Anoka County.


Based on information from the REGIONAL MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE OF MINNESOTA, INC for the period of September 1, 2007 through October 17, 2007.

Look at the huge difference between the absorption rates on single family homes in Coon Rapids when compared to Oak Grove!   The numbers indicate that it can take as much as three times longer (# of days on market) to sell a home in Oak Grove than it would in Coon Rapids.  And when you compare Oak Grove to all of Anoka County, it could take up more than two times longer to sell.  If you just had the statistics for Anoka County you wouldn't be getting an accurate picture of your specific situation.  So you can see how important it is to ge the most up to date and accurate LOCAL information so that you can make the best real estate related decisions possible.

These numbers are actual, but were chosed specifically to show a how large a difference there can be between geographic locations within Anoka County.  They  will "go out of date" quickly.  Please contact me for the latest and most specific informaiton for YOUR home and neighborhood.

If you are considering selling your home, now more than ever, you need my expertise and access to accurate local information.  Feel free to contact me through my website, email me, or give me a call.