Two weeks ago, Brigid Ryan-Ling put her four-bedroom home in Saint Paul on sale.
"Everyone's told us we're crazy," she said. "Gluttons for punishment, we've heard that many, many times."
But the key to not going crazy in this housing market is knowing the market isn't what it used to be.
"The biggest thing for us is keeping our expectations realistic," she said.
Wednesday the Saint Paul Association of Realtors released numbers telling home sellers exactly what they can expect. Home sales in September were down more than 22 percent from a year ago, across the 13-county metropolitan area. And homes are selling for less. The median price for a home sold last month was $225,000, down more than 2 percent from a year ago.
Homes are staying also on the market an average of 71 days. That's actually a slight improvement over the past couple of months.
Steve Hyland, the president of the Saint Paul Board of Realtors and says it's still a buyer's market but found reason for optimism.
"People who are really the experts in my business are saying, ?We really are at a point where the bottom, if that's the right word, has just about been reached,'" he said, adding "There are some numbers in there, without trying to create a silver lining unnecessarily that are pretty positive."
One of the positive trends he pointed out is the glut of homes on the market is easing. The number of new listings is down almost four percent compared to last year. But maybe sellers are just discouraged. And foreclosures continue to cause pain.
Over the last two nights, hundreds of people worried about losing their homes have attended help sessions in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
"There's a family, there's a story behind that house," said Ed Nelson, of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center. "It can ruin a family's credit."
In Minneapolis and Saint Paul there have been nearly 3,500 foreclosures already this year. That's more than there were in all of 2006.
The people who've been hosting the help sessions say half of the people in danger of losing their homes end up keeping their homes, once they seek guidance.
(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
