1,004. 1,046. 1,083. 1,078. 1,120. 1,185.

Notice a pattern? That’s the number of signed purchase agreements each of the last six weeks in the Twin Cities housing market, growing most weeks at the spring buyer market heats up. The 1,185 pending sales during the week of May 9 were a robust 26.6 percent higher than the same week in 2008. Over the last three months, there have been 2,228 more pending sales than the same time period last year!

There are some caveats to this good news.

1.) Traditional home sales (excluding foreclosures and short sales) over those last three months are down 17.6 percent from a year ago.

2.) Sales above $190,000 are down. 19.2 percent from a year ago.

3.) Sales of new construction homes are down 16.8 percent from a year ago.

Looking through a sharper lens is sometimes the best way to fully understand market dynamics.

Active Listings Current Inventory One Year Ago One Year Change
Inventory as of: 5/18/2009 26,419 33,193 -20.4%
New Listings Current Activity One Year Ago One Year Change
For the Week Ending: 5/9/2009 2,058 2,257 -8.8%
Pending Sales Current Activity One Year Ago One Year Change
For the Week Ending: 5/9/2009 1,185 936 +26.6%
Month Supply of Inventory May 2009 May 2008 Percent Change
7.7 10.2 -24.5%
Supply-Demand Ratio: May 2009 - 5.23 houses for sale per buyer
*Data collected from the Regional Multiple Listings Service, for residential properties in the 13 county region exclusively