While Minnesota housing sales are rebounding, inventory issues remain

BEMIDJI -- Fewer homes are up for sale in Minnesota lately, but more of them are being sold than last year.

According to a report from the Minnesota Realtors organization, March had 7,738 homes for sale in the state, down from 17,124 in March 2020. Additionally, there was a 10.9% decline in new listings across Minnesota.

"There's no doubt that we will be in a seller's market well into the future," said Chris Galler, CEO of Minnesota Realtors in a press release. "Factors that were in play even before the pandemic continue to shape the housing environment, including historically low interest rates and a stubbornly persistent shortage of homes."

However, data compiled by Minnesota Realtors found an increase of 3.1% when it came to closed sales from March 2020 to March 2021. The number of pending sales also rose by 12.1% over the past year.

"The positive thing about it is that the sales are up," Minnesota Realtors President T.J. Simon told the Pioneer. "Even though we don't have as much inventory, homes are still being listed and sold. As people start to trust that we're moving out of the pandemic, we are seeing more trust in people getting their property on the market, too."

At the local level, in what the organization calls the Headwaters Region, Simon said the situation is similar. The inventory in the Headwaters Region is down 76.2% from where it was in March 2020.

At the same time, the Headwaters Region had 105 pending sales in March, up from 69 in 2020. Additionally, the region had 68 closed sales, up from 39 in 2020.

On an even more local level, Beltrami County had 67 pending sales in March, up from 48 in 2020. Beltrami County also had 37 closed sales in March, up from 22 in 2020.

In comments echoing Galler, Simon said while the pandemic has had an effect, it hasn't been the only factor.

"It's not necessarily all the pandemic," Simon said. "Part of it is construction costs and the increased demand because of lower interest rates."

Simon also said that an influx of workers in the region because of the Enbridge Line 3 replacement project likely won't be a major element to the market.

"Line 3 impacts rentals more," Simon said. "Some do come in and want to stay after the project, so you do see some increase, but a lot of it is on the rental side."