Our local realtor association is reporting that nationally, we are starting to see some of the impact of the government shutdown on the housing market. Applications for government mortgage products dropped to the lowest level since 2007, according to a release from the Mortgage Banker's Association. This was while overall applications were up marginally. Most FHA lenders were able to process loans while Veterans Administration loans were slowed considerably and USDA Rural Development financing was cut off entirely. That said, there was still plenty of activity locally, much of it positive.
In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending October 19:
• New Listings increased 16.3% to 1,291
• Pending Sales decreased 11.4% to 867
• Inventory decreased 3.9% to 16,275
For the month of September:
• Median Sales Price increased 11.7% to $195,000
• Days on Market decreased 29.7% to 71
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 1.8% to 96.5%
• Months Supply of Inventory