Signs of recovery

Last week we had the big Edina Expo -- a big conference at the Xcel Center for all of the Edina agents.

We had an economist there talk about the state of the market and the possibility for recovery. He believes we will see better conditions for home sellers and stabilizing prices near to the end of this year.

He also shared the elements that he says will tell us that the market is turning and the bottom is past:

1. The number of new listings is less than previous months and less than the same month last year. This will signal two things: Sellers have realized now is NOT a good time and the foreclosure new listings are decreasing.

2. Days on market is decreasing. This means houses are selling more quickly and there is more demand.

3. The listing price and the sold price are closer to each other. This will signal that buyer have less bargaining power.

We have seen none of these things yet. I am thinking of running these stats in just my neighborhood. I do know we had fewer listings in my neighborhood in 2007 than 2006. I'll keep you updated as to the results.