Posted by Robert Russell on Jun 02, 2020
We were 19 Rotarians strong, with the blessing offered by John MacFarlane.  Our brags and fines consisted of John MacFarlane telling us a granddaughter graduated from Kindred High School and will be attending the University of Minnesota - Duluth.  We talked some about the Lucky Duck Derby and the possibility of selling tickets on-line.  Our very own Brian Tjaden then talked about the real estate market and the impact of COVID-19.  He presented numerous charts that reflected new listings, pending sales, closed sales, inventory, days a property remains listed, average prices, etc.  In our area, new listings have slowed down a little bit but pending sales are close to the historic norm.  Listed properties are selling slightly faster, but in our area it takes about a month longer to close than it does throughout the rest of the state.  In a normal market a property will be listed for four to six months; if that gets down to less than four months, it is considered a sellers' market.  Right now, in our area, it is about 4.4 months.  The average sales price for a home in our area at this time if $209,249; statewide it is $297,547.  In the first four months of  2019 the Fergus Falls area had 109 new listings and 58 closings; this year those numbers are 121 and 57 respectively.  In Fergus Falls we now have what is considered a 2.3 month inventory supply -- there are 56 homes currently on the market.  With the low interest rates available, people who want to buy homes can but prices are up.