Our updated Twin Cities Market Report suggests that things are getting a little better out there.  For graphs and charts of the key statistics, click the PDF link at the bottom of the post.

Prospective homeowners appear to have celebrated our Independence holiday by buying a home. For the week ending July 5, there were 735 signed purchase agreements (pending sales), up 7.3 percent from the same week one year ago. New listings increased by 2.5 percent for the same time period comparison but took the expected dive from one week prior due to the 4th of July holiday.

Days on Market Until Sale fell from last month to 147 but is still 13.1 percent higher than a year ago, and the Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale increased to 92.8 percent. Both changes are Read the rest of this entry »

Plentiful jobs, excellent schools, affordable housing - according to CNN’s Money Magazine top 100 list of America’s best small cities, 9 Minnesota cities have all that and more. And even better, the report ranked our very own northwest suburb, Plymouth, MN, as the #1 place to live among U.S. cities with populations of 50,000 to 300,000!

The ranking touts Plymouth’s “topnotch” schools, plentiful jobs, affordable housing, low crime rate and active outdoor culture. In addition, the report shows that Plymouth has a significantly higher-than-average median family income, family purchasing power, math and reading test scores, and percentage of residents with a health plan (91.2%); AND lower-than-average auto insurance premiums, shorter commute times, and lower median home prices. Here are a few other things they say about our little gem of a city… Read the rest of this entry »

Happy 4th of July from The Don Edam Group.  As we celebrate the birth of our nation here in the Twin Cities, we wanted to provide you with some great things to do on the 4th in the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas.

Minneapolis

Riverfront - http://www.mplsredwhiteboom.com/
Music starts at 5 p.m. on Main Street and fireworks begin at 10:00 p.m. The fireworks can be viewed from Main Street, the Stone Arch Bridge and along West River Parkway.
Powderhorn
Powderhorn Park’s Fourth of July fireworks will begin at 10 p.m. or dusk.

St. Paul

Taste of Minnesota - http://www.tasteofmn.org/
The Taste of Minnesota offers a great venue for eating, listening to music, and watching a great fireworks display. Fireworks show begins at 10:20 p.m. Admission is free.

Edina

Roseland Park (Lake Cornelia)
The city closes down 66th Street between Lake Cornelia and puts on a spectacular fireworks display.  The John Phillips Sousa band plays patriotic tunes at Roseland Park shorty before the fireworks begin.  The display will begin just as the sun goes down (dusk that is.)

Eden Prairie

Round Lake Park - http://www.edenprairie.org/vCurrent/upload/images/july08-broch-final.pdf
Celebrate the Fourth of July at Round Lake Park with activities and entertainment concluding with a spectacular fireworks show. Check out the website for more details.

HAVE A BLAST ( no pun intended)!!

Okay, “10,000+ Reasons to Buy a Home” might seem a bit excessive, but in a new housing initiative called Minneapolis Advantage, the city of Minneapolis is offering just that….up to a $10,000 zero-interest, zero-payment loan that’s forgivin over a 5 year period (a.k.a. totally FREE after the 5 years are up) to qualified buyers that purchase a home in one of the city’s 18 eligible neighborhoods.

Developed in response to the city’s rising level of foreclosures, the Minneapolis Advantage loan program is a downpayment and closing cost assistance program to help rebuild the housing market in key neighborhoods (located mostly within the central South and North communities) that have experienced higher than normal levels of mortgage foreclosures.

In addition, the Harrison, McKinley, Folwell and Webber-Camden neighborhoods are offering buyers $4,000 in mortgage assistance, and Harrison is adding another $15,000 for renovations. That makes $29,000 in forgivable loan money to fix up an abandoned home in that neighborhood.

So, if you’re looking to buy a home in Minneapolis and you have good credit, now you have 10,000+ more reasons to get out there on the house hunting trail and buy today

Make sure to check out these two listings, which both qualify: 2810 Aldrich Ave / 1820 Skyline Curve

For more information on Minneapolis Advantage program details and detail on how to apply click here.