Case Schiller Says: Twin Cities Market Still Contracting
No surprise here, as the S&P/Case Schiller Home Price Index shows the continuing unwind of our local real estate market. Median sales prices for March (year-over-year) were down 14.1%, in near lock-step with the reported national average of 14.4%. Bloomberg reports the most useful summary, which can be applied to our market, and nearly all others: “There is excess supply, weakening demand, prices are falling and will continue to fall,'’ said Kevin Logan, senior market economist at Dresdner Kleinwort in New York. “Housing sales are still trending lower.'’ We’d only add that demand in many quart rs is not so much weakening as it is being curtailed by tighter lending standards and those that can’t sell their current home (at a loss) to enter the market as buyers.