Twin Cities Real Estate Market Changes for 2020

What’s Your Energy Score?

Buyers will be asking this question as they look at homes in Minneapolis this year. Starting Jan. 15th the required Minneapolis Truth-in-Sale of Housing Inspection has now added an Energy Efficiency report that will score wall and attic insulation, heating system and window efficiency. The city will not require a seller to upgrade, but the jury is still out on how this will affect buyers and negotiations.

CLICK HERE for more information about this change.

This video also does a great job of explaining some of the components of the scoring system.

No More Sneak Previews

Over the last few years, “coming soon” or “Non-MLS” listings have been making up more and more of the market. In some hyper-competitive regions the number of houses off-market were exceeding the number on the MLS. The National Association of Realtors recently voted to crack down on this. Changes in the Twin Cities area will eliminate the ability to broadly market homes that are not on the MLS. “Coming soon” will truly mean that the home will be posted on the MLS as a coming soon listing—not sold before you found out about it! Like every rule, however, there are viewpoints on both sides of the discussion. Contact us to talk through the timing and specifics of these upcoming changes.

My House Just Got Bigger

Conventional loan limits will rise to $510,400 from $484,350. Why does that matter? It will allow a buyer to come up with less money to stay within conforming loan prices. This also allows a buyer with only 5% down to buy a little bigger house.

One Thing You Can Count On: the Sun will Rise

And…so will your 2020 property taxes. Expect, on average, to see a 4.7% rise in property taxes. The good news: many of your homes have also appreciated that much if not more over the past few years.

 

 


 

The Kim Pease Team can help ask the right questions that will assist you in navigating your next move.

Contact us if you or someone you know might need some guidance.