In the world of costs and benefits, no good deed goes unpunished and every rain cloud has a silver lining. The Commerce Department recently reported that consumer retail spending had risen the most in seven months. That bodes well for residential real estate – an industry sensitive to consumer confidence and spending levels.

But it could force the Federal Reserve’s hand in tapering stimulatory monetary policy sooner than later, something that could push interest rates off their current lows.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending August 10:

• New Listings increased 19.1% to 1,650
• Pending Sales increased 10.1% to 1,197
• Inventory decreased 11.3% to 15,990

For the month of July:

• Median Sales Price increased 16.8% to $208,000
• Days on Market decreased 31.4% to 72
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 2.6% to 97.5%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 21.7% to 3.6

Click here for the full Weekly Market Activity Report.From The Skinny.