You may think that the colder temperatures and holidays would contribute to a slower market. That could not be less true than these past couple of months.

Many fine homes are available, great rates are here to stay for a time, tax credit extensions and other benefits to home ownership have combined to make this one of the briskest times in home sales. Now, I do realize that homes are not literally flying off of the shelves, but, new listings compared with sales are keeping pretty even.

Just picking an area (Rockford and Buffalo) since October 1, 2009 until present there have been 67 new home listings. In relation to that there have been 54 pending and sold homes in the same time frame. Those numbers are pretty close.

In the areas just west of the Twin Cities (Corcoran, Greenfield, Maple Plain — the northwest suburbs) the numbers are not quite as close but still healthy with 65 new home listings and 23 pending and sold homes in the same time frame. Not too shabby.

I have also had the pleasure to show and sell many homes that are NOT bank owned !! Refreshing.

Of course, the bank owned homes are still out there and there are many outstanding deals for buyers. I still work with many buyers that want to get that good deal — and many are successful — with my help!!

If you are looking for a new home, change in scenery (I work all areas), and want to participate in the tax credits (for repeat buyers as well) — It would be my pleasure to assist you in your search for a new home.

Dorothy Marschel
The Derrick Monroe Group
Buyers Agent