As the end of the year approaches, market futurists will either put on their overly cheery, poinsettia-colored glasses or turn into a bunch of dreary Nostradamus Nellys. The wise analyst will tune out extremes and embrace seasonally appropriate slowdowns as a sign of normal market activity while looking with anticipation to what will likely be continued moderate recovery in 2014. Watch for light gains in inventory, quieter pending sales activity and more sedate market times.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending November 23:

• New Listings increased 46.6% to 893
• Pending Sales increased 42.8% to 841
• Inventory decreased 3.6% to 15,008

For the month of October:

• Median Sales Price increased 11.4% to $194,900
• Days on Market decreased 27.2% to 75
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 1.4% to 95.8%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 10.0% to 3.6

All comparisons are to 2012

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