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March Brings Surge of New Listings
It’s April and the spring flowers are starting to shoot up, and so is the spring real estate market. The number of homes for sale is growing, but the number of buyers in the market seems to be growing even faster. Last month, many home sellers saw packed showing calendars, mobbed open houses and multiple offers well over the asking price.
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After a bit of slow start in early February, we saw the housing market really pick up in steam in March. We saw the largest of new home listings hit the market in March since March 2022, which, not so coincidentally, is about when mortgage interest rates began to climb. April 2022 was really the end of the Covid real estate market boom.
New Listings up 11.3 Percent
New home listings in March grew by 11.2 percent compared with last March. About 500 more homes were listed for sale last month than at the same time last year, and there were about 800 more new listings than in March 2021.
But it hardly seemed to make a dent in buyer demand, frankly.
In fact, last month felt a little like the covid market. Even though interest rates remained between 6¾ and 7 percent. I think really, people are just tired of waiting for rates to drop. Sooner or later, people have to move, for a new job, a new baby, they got a married or divorce. Life goes on.
And we saw that pent up demand last month. Here’s a brief anecdote that illustrates what I’m seeing.
Here’s a quick anecdote. I took my buyers to a showing in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood in Minneapolis on a Saturday morning.
Our appointment was at 10. I got there a little early, so I was sitting in my car drinking coffee and I start looking around and there are like 12 other cars with people just sitting in them. And sure enough, at 10 o’clock, doors on every car popped opened and people started walking toward the house like real estate zombies. This was a showing appointment—not an open house. It was crazy. You practically had to elbow people out of the way just to look at the built in buffet and the kitchen appliances.
If you’re thinking of selling, take note here. Buyers are out there in droves. And they’re making offers, often well over the asking price.
Total Inventory of Home for Sale Grew More Slowly in March
You can see that buyer demand here when we look at the total inventory of homes for sale in March. Even with all those new listings coming to market, the total inventory of homes for sale only grew 2 percent year over year. Homes were getting snatched up so quickly, there was little time for the overall inventory to grow.
Now I do need to add something here. Both in terms of new listings and inventory growth, the market isn’t the same at every price point.
For example, when we look at homes listed for sale in March by price, you can see that while there was some increase in new listings priced under $500,000, the biggest increase in new listings—at least by percentage, came in the $500,000 and over price points.
Conversely, when looking at the total inventory of homes for sale, we also see inventory growing in those upper brackets. But if you were out looking for a home in that $300-$500,000 price range, first-time and move-up buyers, you can see things are much tighter.
We actually saw the total inventory of homes for sale in that price bracket decline, year over year, by almost 8 percent.
There was a significant jump in both homes listed for sale and inventorygrowth in March in the $300,000 and under price category, but I can tell you, many homes in this price bracket—those in good condition and priced right–were selling just as quickly.
So how has this demand impacting homer prices. I think the answer to that question is going to become clearer in my May market update, since the bulk of the homes sold in March won’t actually close until sometime this month. We are not really going to see the full impact of those multiple offer battles until May.
But in general, home prices are continuing to rise slowly but steadily. The median sale price in the Twin Cities was $385,000, an increase of 2.9 percent compared to March 2024. And the average home price was up 4.1 percent, to $464,353.
So what does all this mean if you’re thinking about buying a home or selling your home.
If you’re thinking of selling your home this spring or summer, buyer demand is strong and homes that show well and that are priced right can expect to sell quickly and probably get multiple offers.
If you’re hoping to buy a home soon, spring is when you will find the largest inventory of homes for sale to choose from, but you’ll also be competing for the best home deals with lots of other buyers and you may have to make some concessions or pay a higher price.
J Trout Lowen is a Minneapolis REALTOR. She specializes in helping home buyers and home sellers navigate the Twin Cities Housing Market.
