Less supply, more demand and rising prices are being seen in residential markets across the nation. Although grumpy cats using national data sometimes grouse about the housing recovery’s fragility, housing trends have remained positive for well over a year now, and the road ahead looks bright with better lending standards in place. Ominous headlines may benefit advertisers and search engine optimization, but local consumers informed of local situations are in a better position to leverage the market.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending April 20:

• New Listings decreased 4.5% to 1,601
• Pending Sales increased 9.7% to 1,337
• Inventory decreased 28.4% to 13,258

For the month of March:

• Median Sales Price increased 17.8% to $176,575
• Days on Market decreased 24.3% to 109
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 3.1% to 95.0%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 38.0% to 3.1

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