Pending Minnesota MLS sales are up and prices are down. More people are slowly getting back into the real estate market. The Minneapolis St Paul region has been faring better than many big cities across the country. The Minnesota economy is solid and home prices are stable or become more stable. If you are a real estate investor, you may not want to wait on the sideline for too long.

Quote:

By JIM BUCHTA, Star Tribune, Oct 1, 2008

In the 20 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, July home prices fell a record 16.3 percent from a year ago, according to the latest Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller report. It was the biggest annual decline on record even in the Twin Cities metro area, where home prices during July fell 13.1 percent compared with the same time last year.

Despite the double-digit annual price declines, there was some good news for the local market: Home prices in the Twin Cities rose for two consecutive months this summer. From May to June, prices rose 0.9 percent, and from June to July, prices rose 1.3 percent -- the largest increase of all 20 communities surveyed.

In the Twin Cities, the median sale price of houses sold through the Regional Multiple Listing Service MN Real Estate MLS during August fell 13 percent, to $200,000. The median is the point at which half sold for more, half for less. The median sale price of lender-mediated sales -- foreclosures and sales for less that what is owed on the mortgage -- was down almost 10 percent, while the median sale price of traditional sales fell only 4 percent.