ROCHESTER – After years of shopping for homes during a very hot seller’s market in Washington DC and Minneapolis, a home in her hometown of Rochester caught Laura Ahmed’s attention.
“In October, I was doing that millennial thing of scrolling through Zillow and I thought, ‘Wow, this house is really cool,’” she said as she watched her husband, ex Ahmed, play with their 7-month-old daughter, Leya . at their northwest Rochester home. “I’m a very passionate shopper.”
The couple, who grew up in Rochester, had been house hunting since the summer of 2020. The Ahmeds are both professionals in their early 30s who work remotely, so they have a lot more flexibility and more capital than at home in the first place. buyer.
In late December, they close on a large 1969 mid-century modern home, away from Leia’s doting grandparents.
“Having grandparents is important,” X Ahmed said, although having space for two home offices and a backyard for the dogs and Leya was also important.
They were seen in Washington DC, where Laura’s employer is, as well as in the Twin Cities. In early 2022, they are seeing multiple homes with multiple bids as potential buyers race to close on a property.
“It was just that the buyers didn’t really have time to put any thought into the house they were going to buy. They had to go. They didn’t have the opportunity to inspect the house or anything like that,” The market is open in early 2022, said Owatonna Realtor Michelle Zandt, who is president of Southeast Minnesota Realtors.
SEMR recently released its annual report on 2022 home sales in the organization’s seven-county region. The year began on a similar track to the past few years, with low inventory of homes and rising prices.
Ax and Laura Ahmed play with their 7-month-old daughter, Leya, at their new home on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Rochester.
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
That all changed as inflation spiked, prompting historically low interest rates to climb higher. There still weren’t enough homes and prices were still high, but the buyers who remained in the market had more leverage than at the beginning of the year.
Adam Howell said, “It looks like we’re starting a new cycle with a more balanced market where you have more ‘win-win’ situations for both buyers and sellers.” “A neutral market is a good market for all.”
For Ahmed, changes in the market meant that interest rates were higher than at any point in his buying experience when he began stalking the home that Laura fell in love with on Zillow. However, they had slightly more leverage because homes due in late 2022 were taking longer to sell.
“With no one else at the table, we were able to negotiate in a way that we couldn’t at the beginning of the year,” X Ahmed said. “With the help of our Realtor, Tim Nella, and our lender, Deon Oden of Cooley Bank, we were able to get the home we wanted at a great price.”
Both he and his wife provide guidance to the professionals they work with.
“Education is really important for home buyers. We didn’t know anything about how to get better interest rates,” said Laura Ahmed.
Real estate professionals say education is even more important than in the past as fewer homes remain on the market as prices climb to historic rates.
In 2022, just 5,799 homes were sold in the SEMR area. This is down 11.8% from the 6,549 homes sold in 2021. This is also higher than the 6,587 closings in 2020.
There are 1,959 home sales closing in 2022 in the Rochester area. This is 440 less than in 2021 and 418 less than in 2020.
In the past, declining sales in Rochester meant that people were shopping in surrounding communities and commuting to Med City for work, shopping, and entertainment.
Home sales in Stewartville increase from 100 in 2021 to 214 in 2022. Byron sales increase from 174 in 2021 to 194 in 2022. Zumbrota climbs 17.4% from 92 to 108 home sales in 2022.
Adam Howell
While St. Charles and Hayfield also posted increases, most of the regional communities around Rochester also showed similar declines in home sales.
Caisson fell from 148 closing in 2021 to 131 in 2022. In Owatonna, there are 384 homes sold in 2022, down from 434 in 2021.
While the number of deals declined, the prices of those homes unexpectedly climbed to new levels.
For the first time in 2022, the median sale price of homes in Rochester, Casson, Pine Island and Zumbrota will exceed $300,000.
Meanwhile, the Oronoco area, which has long been at the top end of the local price scale with its high-end rural homes, climbed 14.5% from a median sales price of $440,000 in 2021 to $503,750 in 2022. For context, that median price was calculated on 25 home sales in 2022, up from 21 homes last year.
Median prices also climbed in Austin and Albert Lea. However, homes in those areas were at the opposite end of the scale from Oroonoko. The median home price in Albert Lea in 2022 is $146,000 and in Austin is $163,750.
Ax and Laura Ahmed play with their 7-month-old daughter, Leya, at their new home on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Rochester.
Traci Westcott / Post Bulletin
Source: www.postbulletin.com
