Hopkins Home Prices Continue to Climb

The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) reported Thursday that April’s median home prices in Hopkins jumped 40.3 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Hopkins saw closed sales remain nearly level, and new listings dropped 26 percent—from 35 in 2011 to 26 in 2012.

But across the Twin Cities region, Realtors pointed to several signs that the real estate market is bouncing back.

In general, Minnesota homes are selling at their fastest pace in some time and prices are continuing to climb over the same levels reported a year earlier. The median sales price for the Twin Cities metro area for April 2012 was $163,000, up 12.4 percent from April 2011. That's the largest year-over-year jump since January 2004.

In Hopkins, the median sales price was $189,450 in April 2012 compared to $135,000 a year earlier.

On average, homes sold in 135 days, down 14.9 percent from last April. Sellers received an average of 93.3 percent of their list price, up from 90.1 percent last April. Cash buyers made up 20.7 percent of all closed sales, down from 24.8 percent at this time in 2011. The year-to-date average is $158,000, up 53.4 percent over last year’s $103,000.

"We're impressed with the accelerating improvements," said Andy Fazendin, MAAR’s president-elect. "High-quality, move-in-ready inventory is limited. Those waiting for falling prices will likely be disappointed."

The number of homes for sale has dropped for 15 consecutive months, down 29.2 percent from last year to 17,312 active listings – the lowest inventory reading for any month since January 2004. Months supply of inventory—the amount of time it would take to sell every home on the market--dropped 44 percent to 4.6 months, the lowest reading for any month since August 2005.

Foreclosures and short sales continue to decline as a percentage of real estate transactions. Traditional sales made up 57.1 percent of all closings and went for about 50 percent more than foreclosures, generating the strong gain in overall median sales price.

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