Forest Lake, MN Real Estate Market Statistics First Quarter 2009

Forest Lake, Minnesota is well known throughout the Twin Cities area. Many people from the city remember the northeast St. Paul suburb fondly from years gone by as a summer vacation spot, an annual ice fishing tournament tradition or as a destination when going for a Sunday a drive in the country. Today, the lakeside cabins have been replaced with year round residences, the fishing tourney is but a memory and the farms are few and far between in this third ring St. Paul suburb.

Real estate in Forest Lake, MN in north Washington County and east Anoka County has had a good first quarter for homes priced under $200,000. A total of 26 single family homes were sold in Forest Lake and Forest Lake Township during the first quarter of 2009. The Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) Statistic ran at 165 days for all homes sold during the quarter which is equal to the CDOM of all of last year. In the first and second quarter of 2008, the CDOM was well over 211-286, so homes are continuing to sell at a faster pace as we start 2009.

Not surprisingly, the price category of under $200,000 is the high point of the year. With 19 listings sold with an average CDOM of just over 5 months, it appears buyers are out there shopping for homes under $200K. The $200,000-300,000 category has slowed a bit with only 3 homes sold but they sold quickly with a CDOM of 42 days. This statistic is more than likely skewed with the small number of sales. It appears that there is over 3 years worth of inventory in this price range but I think this will average out over the next few months.

It appears the high end homes will continue to struggle into 2009 with virtually no sales in prices over $500,000. The bulk of these properties are beautiful executive residences on Forest Lake’s picturesque First Lake. Currently, the Forest Lake community sits with nearly 5 years of inventory in this price range and no relief appears to be in sight.

Great homes are currently on the market in Forest Lake at amazing prices; many are lakeshore and acreage properties. With this much inventory, sellers will need to be flexible on pricing. It might be the perfect time to negotiate a GREAT deal on a lakeshore home!

Lakeshore opportunities have been abundant in the Forest Lake area in 2009! There are more listings than ever before at incredible prices too! The inventory is awesome…35 lakeshore homes are currently active and some are at attractive and affordable price points. Many have been on the market for several months. With the amazing low interest rates and few high pricepoint buyers, it could be a great time to negotiate a deal on your piece of Forest Lake Minnesota shoreline!

First Quarter 2009 Forest Lake real estate statistics for single family homes:

Under $200,000~ 28 Active Listings, 11 Pending Listings, 19 Sold Listings, 158 CDOM (Lakeshore Subgroup ~ 1 Active, 1 Pending, 1 Sold)
$200,000-$300,000 ~ 46 Active Listings, 4 Pending Listings, 3 Sold Listings, 42 CDOM (Lakeshore Subgroup ~ 1 Active, 0 Pending, 0 Sold)

$300,000-$400,000 ~ 22 Active Listings, 2 Pending Listings, 2 Sold Listings, 394 CDOM (Lakeshore Subgroup ~ 6 Active, 1 Pending, 1 Sold)

$400,000-$500,000 ~ 9 Active Listings, 0 Pending Listings, 2 Sold Listing, 199 CDOM (Lakeshore Subgroup ~ 6 Active, 0 Pending, 2 Sold)

$500,000 and Up~ 24 Active Listings, 0 Pending Listings, 0 Sold Listings (Lakeshore Subgroup ~ 21 Active, 0 Pending, 0 Sold)

Lakeshore available in the Forest Lake area:

35 Active Listings, 2 Pending Listings, 4 Sold Listings

Forest Lake lakeshore price range:

$199,000-$2,100,000

• 30 Homes on Forest Lake


• 2 Homes on Clear Lake


• 1 Home on Shields Lake


• 1 Home on Howard Lake


• 1 Home on Comfort Lake

**All Statistical information based on information from the REGIONAL MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE of MINNESOTA, INC. for the period of 1 /1/09 through 3/31/09.

Copyright 2009 Teri Eckholm http://www.terieckholm.com/

Lino Lakes, MN Real Estate Market Statistics Year End 2008

Like much of the real estate in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, Lino Lakes, MN in Anoka County is amazingly affordable. This year properties sold but the average selling price was directly affected by the bank owned and lender mediated properties on the market. Traditional homes had longer market times but properties were selling.

Though Lino Lakes has a good mixture of lakeshore, acreage and townhome residences but is more known for having a bit of space between the houses. It conveniently located near the junction of the 35E and 35W split, just north of the Twin Cities, Lino Lakes is a 33 square miles treasure. With 13 lakes and acres of beautiful protected wetland, the community is served by three school districts; Centennial District #12, Forest Lake District #831, and White Bear Lake District #624. The gem attraction is the pristine 2,700-acre Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Regional Park Reserve is situated within the heart of the city. Lino Lakes is committed to maintain this treasure and its natural settings and wildlife habitats for years to come.

The year end numbers for Lino Lakes sales show area homes were selling slower than last year with an average of 160 days on the market for sold properties (DOM) compared with 141 days DOM in the fourth quarter of 2007. Looking at current inventory levels and the rate of sales for homes priced under $300,000, there is about 10-11 months of inventory. This does seem a little longer than in surrounding communities. Hopefully things will pick up again as the snow melts away.
While homes under $300,000 in Lino Lakes have a manageable inventory level high end homes continue to sell at a slower pace but surprisingly, not by much. Based on the year end statistics, it will now take about 13 months to sell the current inventory of homes above the $400,000 price tag. This is down considerably in Lino Lakes from last year when the inventory level hovered around the two year mark for absorption. Surrounding Anoka County areas still have 2 plus years of inventory as we started 2009.

2008 Average Sales Price of all homes sold in Lino Lakes:

• All Homes $259,826


• Single Family Homes $276,580


• Townhomes/Condos $169,074

2008 Average Cummulative Days on Market in Lino Lakes:

• All Homes 160


• Single Family Homes 157


• Townhomes/Condos 178

4th Quarter Lino Lakes residential real estate statistics for single family homes:
Under $200,000~ 43 Active Listings, 7 Pending Listings, 27 Sold Listings, 131 CDOM
$200,000-$300,000 ~ 45 Active Listings, 5 Pending Listings, 62 Sold Listings, 136 CDOM
$300,000-$400,000 ~ 29 Active Listings, 2 Pending Listings, 27 Sold Listings, 160 CDOM
$400,000-$500,000 ~ 8 Active Listings, 1 Pending Listings, 7 Sold Listings, 232 CDOM
$500,000 and Up~ 12 Active Listings, 1 Pending Listings, 7 Sold Listings, 267 CDOM
Lakeshore available in Lino Lakes as of 2/25/20093 Active Listings
Lino Lakes lakeshore price range: $499,000-$698,000
1 Home on Baldwin Lake
2 Homes on Reshanau LakeAcreage properties available in Lino Lakes as of 2/25/2009
11 properties listed on 1-2 Acres priced between $192,500-$799,900.
3 properties listed on 3-5 Acres priced between $145,000-$550,000
3 properties listed on 5-10 Acres priced between $349,000-$650,000
1 property listed on 10.92 Acres priced at $279,900
1 property listed on 29 Acres priced at $849,900
1 property listed on 80 Acres priced at $6,000,000

For additional information on any current Lino Lakes real estate listing or for additional information on buying a home in Lino Lakes contact Teri Eckholm directly at 651-336-7073.
**All Statistical information sold based on information from the REGIONAL MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE of MINNESOTA, INC. for the period of 1/1/08 through 12/31/08.

Copyright 2009 terieckholm.com

Lakeshore Market Statistics for Forest Lake, MN—Clear Lake & Forest Lake Sales

A few weeks back I received a phone call from a lovely lady thanking me for my informative post on the lakeshore market in the Twin Cities north metro. She lives in Forest Lake on Clear Lake and was considering selling next summer After reading my article, Think Now is a GREAT Time to Make a DEAL on a MN Lakeshore Home? I Do!, she was concerned about the changing market and wanted more specifics on how homes on Clear Lake were fairing today. She didn’t want a market analysis of her home, just some statistics on what was really selling on Clear Lake. I told her that was a very good question and the sales values would be very different than what was happening on other area lakes. I said that I would look into the situation further and get back to her. I also told her that her query could become my next post. She thought that was a terrific idea so here it is.

First of all, many people may not realize that the City of Forest Lake, Miinnesota has several lakes and the lake, Forest Lake itself is really 3 lakes, First, Second and Third. All three are full recreational lakes and are connected by channels but the lakeshore on the different has different levels of desirability and hence drastically differing values. First Lake is the largest and most coveted shoreline. Similarly, Clear Lake is nearby Forest Lake. It is a full recreational lake but it is not connected to Forest Lake. Many people driving past the City of Forest Lake as they head up on 35 toward Duluth will mistake Clear Lake for Forest Lake as it is the only lake visible from the freeway. It is just to the east of 35 and there is a small fishing pier and boat landing visible from the road.

So how has Clear Lake real estate faired during the market slow down? My research showed very little activity in the past year. In fact, only one home has sold so far in 2008 and three homes were sold in 2007. The home sold in 2008 had been recently remodeled and sold within days of listing for an amount significantly higher than its stated tax value. This is very unusual and on the surface sounds like great news for Clear Lake homeowners but it is only one house and so the information taken alone is misleading.

Taking the three homes sold in 2007 into account, the picture is clearer but not as rosy. Averaging all four homes, the days on the market (DOM) expands to 135 for the SOLD homes on Clear Lake. Since each of the homes is drastically different in age, style, shoreline, acreage and condition, I did not want to average the value. Rather I compared the homes sales prices to the current listed tax values from the Washington County Assessor.

Here is what I found:

• A home on 217th sold for $463K and has a current tax value of $332K. It sold for significantly more than its tax value.
• A home on Everton sold for $295K and has a current tax value of $277K. It sold for slightly more than its tax value.
• A home on 210th sold for $320K and has a current tax value of $441K. This is significantly lower than the county has listed (and more in the norm for what is happening in the marketplace).
• A home on Fondant sold for $682K and has a tax value of $530K. Again very high compared to the tax record.

Then I averaged the sales prices to come up with an average; it appears that the homes on Clear Lake are selling at 1.15% of tax value based on the 2007 and 2008 sales data.

There are also four homes currently listed on the lake that and the cumulative DOM is considerably higher. The average DOM is over 440 days for these four lakeshore homes. Also two of the homes are listed at prices significantly higher than tax value:

• 21XXX Everton $270K List, $278K Tax
• 21XXX Floral Bay $406K List, $441 Tax
• 57XX 220th $680K List, $375K Tax
• 51XX 217th $949K List, $703K Tax

The first two homes were originally listed at $340K and $475K respectively. I think it is possible that the prices on these homes were brought down to under tax value so that they would have a better opportunity to sell. This seems to be inline with what is currently happening in most segments of the real estate market today.

Since there were so few sales on Clear Lake, I also compared tax values to sale prices for lakeshore homes on Forest Lake during the past 12 months. On Forest Lake (Lakes First Second and Third combined), 17 previously owned homes sold with lakeshore. The tax record to sales price ratio was 1.01% just slightly over tax value.
To get a true picture of what a lakeshore home value would be in the market place today, it would be most prudent to have a property specific market analysis done. But, if you just want a ball park value, take a close look at your Washington County tax statement. Unless your home has significant recent improvements or is significantly distressed, its current value in today’s market is very close to the assessed value.

More Articles on Forest Lake and Lakeshore that might be of interest:

• Forest Lake, MN Real Estate Market Statistics Third Quarter 2008
• Extremely Affordable Minnesota Lakeshore!
• Dreaming of Life on MN Acreage?--What YOU Need to Know Before YOUR Move!
• Relocating to Forest Lake MN? The Schools are Full of Ranger Pride!

If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional REALTOR®, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.
Copyright 2008 terieckholm.com