In housing, an elusive ‘Recovery Road’

A year ago this month, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors declared the Twin Cities housing market on "Recovery Road."

But the group's final weekly report for 2010 shows the declaration was, well, premature.

The reality is data continue to show a market that won't get back to normal until more people find jobs. And experts don't expect Minnesota to recover the jobs lost in the recession until mid-2013.

Key numbers -- average number of days on market, percent of original list price at sale and the supply of homes for sale -- worsened over the "recovery road" year, the newest Minneapolis Realtors' report shows.

Click on the graphics for larger views.

The lousy weather this month no doubt played a role in the market hobbling at the end of 2010. But a look at the trends show snow can take all the blame.

Here's a look at how the values of our homes have fallen the past couple years, from the Realtors' Housing Supply Outlook.

Single family detached housing values seem to have stabilized but if you're in a condo your values have been hit pretty hard.

Markets recover. But as we've noted for months now, the malaise that hit Twin Cities housing when the federal housing tax credits ended was deeper than anyone expected.

There are some positives -- an increase in the the sales of homes valued at and above $350,000, for instance.

But people with jobs buy homes and can afford to keep them. And until more people are employed again in Minnesota, no one will be making predictions about the market turning onto Recovery Road.

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