Real Estate Information

RE/MAX International has recognized Mike Raivala for his 5 years of service with RE/MAX. Mike joined the Jim Ronding Team of RE/MAX1 in 2003 and specializes as a Buyer Agent who takes pride in helping home buyers achieve thier real estate dreams.

RE/MAX International has recognized Mike Raivala for his 5 years of service with RE/MAX. Mike joined the Jim Ronding Team of RE/MAX1 in 2003 and specializes as a Buyer Agent who takes pride in helping home buyers achieve thier real estate dreams.

Welcome Kristel Janyl to the Superior location of RE/MAX 1.  Kristel joins our office as an Office Administrator setting appointments for showings, coordinating advertising and maintaining our websites, along with many of her other duties.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

  This week in real estate there has been a noticeable change in the real estate market locally.  What does that mean?  It may signal the beginning of the end of our recent housing slump, hopefully job losses will stop surging soon and we can begin to readjust to what may be a new way we look at our financial health.

The pending status of listed homes has increased by roughly 10% over the past few days and as long as interest rates are good we may be able to sustain some type of a market and begin to use up existing inventories and start to see home prices stabilize.

Any government stimulus in housing should be good for business as well.  If there is legislation passed for a refundable tax credit (up to $15,000) as well as government mandated 4% interest rates for primary residences that could be a huge incentive for buyers sitting on the fence.  Stay tuned for more info on that as we haven’t seen the final legislation yet.

Some markets of interest locally:

Best value markets:  (Housing priced 10-40% under market avgs.)

Denfeld/Spirit Valley

Fndlc/Gary/NDUL

Downtown

Lincoln Park

East End (6^th Ave. -15^th Ave E

Observation Hill

Chester Park

 Riverside/Smithville/Norton Park

Most units sold (1-1-09/2-8-09

Kenwood

Lakeside/Lester

Piedmont

Lincoln Park

Denfeld/Spirit valley

Welcome Tom & Dana "Action" Acton to the Superior office of RE/MAX 1 !  The Acton's are licensed in Wisconsin and specialize in Residential, Multi-Family, Land listing and sales.

RE/MAX 1 is proud to welcome LYNN MARIE NEPHEW to our team of professionals. Lynn is licensed in Minnesota & Wisconsin and is in her seventh year of providing real estate services to buyers, sellers, and income property investors in the Twinports area. She also serves as an active board and committee member for Neighborhood Housing Services of Duluth.

Welcome Lynn.

We have started a Radio Show about Real Estate on KDAL 610am each Saturday from 1-2pm.  Gary and I cover topics in real estate regarding local, regional, and national topics that are of interest to our listening audience.

We sure would like to hear some feedback of our show if you have ever listened.  We would like any comments positive and those suggesting improvement, and suggestions about what you would like to hear on the show.

Listen in Saturdays on KDAL 610am from 1pm to 2pm.

Jim and Gary

Hello out there!  I am completely fresh at blogging, so a little patience while I learn please.

What you have undoubtedly heard through the media is that the real estate market is in the tank and nothing is selling.  This is not true in our market.

The Twin Ports never really had the hot hot hot appreciation that some markets like MPLS-St. Paul, east and west coast, etc.  So, when the market goes through a change, it hits those overheated markets hard, and they grab the headlines.  I have been through market cycles a few times before (since 1986 - old guy here!) and the Twin Ports of Duluth MN and Superior WI have not been felt the same downturns, just like we don't feel the heavy increases.  So, while we may have some adjusting going on in our market, rest assured that houses are still selling locally and we will all be fine.

Something that is making a difference locally is that some of the loose lending practices of the recent past have come home to roost and there has been an increase in foreclosures.  This does have an impact on values - but this too should pass.

I will add some stats to this blog within a week to back up this point. 

Thanks! Jim Ronding