Inman

Twin Cities real estate sales cool

Home sales in the Twin Cities, Minn., region dipped 4.4 percent in June from a year ago but remained the second-highest month on record over the past six years, the Saint Paul Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

Realtors reported a total of 6,735 home sales in the 13-county metropolitan area in June, down from 7,047 in June 2004.

For the first six months of 2005, home sales edged slightly ahead of last year by 0.1 percent. There were 26,412 closed home sales from January ’05 through June ’05 compared with 26,382 sales during the same period in 2004.

Jim Reiter, president of the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors, is confident that home sales in 2005 will be another record breaker. “Overall the picture looks great for the first six months of the year and sales are holding up to last year’s pace.”

Median sales price for June 2005 was $231,000, up 5 percent over the year-ago median price of $220,000.

Counties showing the largest percentage increase in closed home sales in June ’05 versus ’04 were Rice (10.5 percent) and Scott (9.2 percent).

Housing statistics include existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses. Statistics are provided by the Saint Paul Area Association Realtors and are based on the closed existing-home sales as reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.

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