April 2016 H OUSING N EWS R EPORT
builders still have a positive outlook for 2016,”
mortgages.
Foreclosures Down
Under HAMP, interest rates on modified step-rate mortgages are fixed for five years, then increase in steps by as much as 1 percent per year until the interest rate matches the market rate that was in effect when the borrower’s HAMP modification took effect.
Minneapolis was not the poster child during the foreclosure crisis, not nearly as bad as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami. But it did suffer plenty, with banks foreclosing on 208,200 homes in the Minneapolis metro from 2006 to 2016, according to RealtyTrac data. Foreclosures activity peaked in 2009, when lenders repossessed over 36,000 Minneapolis homes. As of February 2016, banks had repossessed only 1,741 homes. Between 2009 and 2010, about 60 percent of the homes on the market were foreclosed bank-owned homes. The majority of home sales in Minneapolis take place between February and July; the experts are just hoping there are enough listings to meet demand. “We’ve got to be getting close to the ceiling,” said Lundin, the Keller Williams agent, who has had her license since 2003. “It feels weird. It just doesn’t feel right.”
Building Activity Flat
Residential construction numbers in the Twin Cities are flat. Twin Cities homebuilders pulled only 382 new homes permits in January, according to the Census Bureau. In 2015, builders pulled 11,713 new home permits. For the last four years, an average of just over 11,000 new home permits were pulled for new Twin Cities homes, compared to 27,000 in 2004. “We’re feeling optimistic that after two flat years we will see the boost in activity that we’ve been waiting for,” said Meg Jaeger, president of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. “With the Twin Cities housing inventory at a 13-year low and other economic indicators looking up, this should be a good year for residential construction. Despite a weak February,
Minneapolis-St. Paul REOs - (2006 - 2016)
40,000
36,041 35,093
35,000
29,431
30,000
26,237
25,000
21,971
20,000
16,717
15,000
12,785
11,529 11,005
10,000
5,673
5,000
1,741
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
SOURCE: RealtyTrac
21
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter