Lake Vermilion Real Estate

A blog, such as this one, is just one of a growing number of ways to research the world of real estate offerings.

An increasing number of folks are using mobile devices as a tool to access the world of digital information.

St. Paul, Minnesota real estate blogger Teresa Boardman reports that one of the nicest mobile real estate search apps is from Realtor.org.

I would agree.

Here is a screen shot from that app with a nifty feature that allows you to circle a specific geographical area and then display the properties currently offered for sale within the selected space.

That’s pretty cool.

There are numerous other ways to search plus you can save listings of interest or forward information via email.

View all the app details here.  Download the (free) app.  Search your area of interest.  Make a list of properties that meet your needs.  Call your realtor and arrange a tour.  Make an offer.  Close the deal.  Move in and enjoy.

Are you interested in the current condition and trends of the broader Minnesota real estate market?

You might enjoy the statistics and charts in this report from the Minnesota Association of Realtors titled, “Minnesota Monthly Indicators, August 2010”.

Good stuff.

I like to use year-to-date sales data as an indicator of where our local real estate market compares to previous year sales and, perhaps, as a hint to where the market may be headed.

As of this day, October 7th in the calendar year 2010 (and using Lake Vermilion waterfront residential sales as the indicator) the market is within 3 closed sales of being as good as any year since 2005.

The total dollar volume has not taken a significant drop but the average unit sales price is down about 22%.  That can largely be attributed to the fact that properties in the sub-$500,000 price range have seen a greater degree of interest than the higher priced offerings.

I would not deny we are in a challenging market.  I think it is interesting that we love to dwell on the negative information versus looking for indicators of improvement.

However, if you are a Seller without a sale, this market remains lousy.  It should be noted that all sales help all Sellers.

Here’s to better days ahead.

(Send me a note or click here if you would like to see the actual market numbers noted above.)