Maple Grove Home Sales Up

Home sales in the Maple Grove market are up 4.1% year-to-date while the number of homes for sale has dropped 39.9%.
With just a 3.6 month supply of homes for sale, the number of homes is below the 5 month supply that is considered a "balanced market" meaning the market is considered tilted in favor of sellers, a welcome change to many home-owners.
Driving this decline in inventory is a drop in bank-owned and lender-mediated short sale homes listed which are down 19.9% and 25.7% respectively while "traditional" owners selling their homes are up 4.1%.
With rents up, exceeding the cost of home ownership in many cases and interest rates at all time lows, the rate of home sales is not expected to decline, at least through the typically robust summer home-buying season.
Data and graphics courtesy of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors

Bear Sighting in Elm Creek Park

A black bear was sighted in the Elm Creek Park Reserve on June 9 and again a couple days later, first in the picnic areas and then wandering through the northern areas of the park. The park informed patrons not to approach the bear and to alert park staff if they see the bear. With coyotes in the park and now a bear sighted, authorities have warned residents not to leave their pets or small children unattended in their yard, even if the yard is fenced as these animals can be predatory.
Stock photo courtesy of Fox-8 Cleveland

Neighborhood Garage Sale-June 14, 15 & 16

The Elm Creek Park Reserve neighborhood will be holding its 3rd annual neighborhood garage sale on June 14-16 from 9AM-5PM.

The Maple Grove neighborhood is located on the west side of Zachary Lane between County Road 81 and 101st Ave N or enter from the round-a-bout at the Elm Creek Blvd/Park Reserve exit from 610, just west of Osseo. Signs will be posted.
(1) 11282 98th Pl N
(2) 11474 100th Ave N
(3) 9946 Deerwood Ln N
(4) 11613 100th Pl N
(5) 11655 100th Ave N
(6) 11867 101st Ave N
(7) 11900 101st Ave N
(8) 9710 Forestview Ln N
(9) 9881 Balsam Lane N
(10) 11290 97th Ave N
(11) 11270 97th Ave N
(12) 11950 101st Ave N
(13) 10011 Ives Ln N - plant sale
(14) 9816 Norwood Ln N - lots of kids clothes

Refinance Tips

Interest rates are at all time lows so it's a great time to think about refinancing.
I use a thumb-rule of 1% to determine if it makes sense to refi. If you can lower your interest rate by 1% or more, just do it providing you have at least 7 years remaining on your mortgage. It will typically cost around 3% of your new mortgage amount in closing costs to refinance so the pay-back period for a 1% reduction in interest is roughly 3 years.

How do you choose a mortgage product? (ARM, fixed rate, 10 yrs, 15 yrs, 30 yrs, ...) Talk with your loan officer - they're the experts, and you should also decide what your personal goals are.
Get out of debt quickly? A 15 year mortgage with slightly higher monthly payments but lower interest rate may be best.
Planning to remain in your home for under 10 years? An Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) which remains fixed at an attractive interest rate for the 1st 3-7 years may be best or an FHA loan which is an assumable giving you a marketing edge over the competition when you sell may be best.

What if you owe more than the home is worth?
The federal goverment, as part of a legal settlement with the big five lenders: Ally Financial, Bank of America (Countrywide), Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, has made re-financing available if your loan was originated prior to January 1, 2009 and is serviced by one of those lenders. There is also HARP2, a federal program available only if your loan is backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. To find out, you can call your lender or use the websites:
http://fanniemae.com/loanlookup/
www3.freddiemac.com/corporate/,

Before you refinance, it's a good idea to review your credit report - you can do this free of charge once each year by requesting a copy of your credit report from each of the big three credit agencies: Equifax, Transunion and Experian or you can request the report through AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.

Zachary Square Updates

With an increase in the number and frequency of vandalism and thefts at local park and ride lots, the city of Maple Grove just approved the budget to install security cameras at the Zachary Square park and ride lot.

From the 5/7/2012 council meeting minutes: Motion to authorize Mayor and City Administrator to accept proposal from Pro-Tec Design for a security camera system for the Zachary Park-and-Ride lot for a price not to exceed $34,166.

As you may be aware, the Parnassus Preparatory School opened in August 2011 in Zachary Square. Due to much higher than expected enrollment rates, the school is already working with the city to allow an expansion of 13,000 square feet, an increase in the occupancy from 10 years to 15 years and a relocation of the playground.

GARAGE SALE!

Hi Neighbors, Reminder that our neighborhood garage sale is coming up! Thurs-Fri-Sat June 14, 15 and 16 I'll be providing signs at the neighborhood entrances and advertising on Craigslist and in the MG Press. If you will be having a garage sale, send me a note (stevehoem@edinarealty.com) or call me (763-494-8183) and I'll add you to the list of the garage sales on our neighborhood website.

May Neighborhood Market Update & Neighborhood Garage Sale

Interest rates remain at AMAZING levels (around 3.75% for a fixed 30 year FHA) and prices seem to have stabilized with inventory driving this bus. New listings are down 15% week over week from a year ago. This combined with sales being up 21% has led to a decrease in inventory of 28% so quite a bit fewer homes to choose from which we starting to feel this winter.

Shadow inventory and the economy are the unknown players here. If the economy and job market begin to soften, that could put a damper on sales and even out the supply-demand curve. Likewise, with new lending regulations causing speedier foreclosure to market times, we could see a slight but noticeable increase in the numbers of foreclosed properties coming for sale which could raise the supply, again evening out the supply-demand curve. Time will tell but regardless, the combination of amazing interest rates and low prices have created home affordability not seen in quite a few years.

Our neighborhood is seeing the effects of this with a few homes listed at around $200K selling relatively quickly in the past 30 days. An encouraging trend!

This map shows the homes for sale (green) or pending-accepted purchase agreements (orange) since April 1st. FYI - 9792 Ives at $149,900 is a short sale. Five homes for sale and all but one have offers accepted. Click to see the listings (link will expire in July)

Stay tuned for information on our neighborhood garage sale coming up mid-June. Drop me a line with your address if you'd like to be included as I'll publish a map hear with the garage sale locations.