The years of 2012 and 2013 are going to be noted as a period of recovery for housing, and 2014 should prove to be more of the same but perhaps with not as much force. As we begin to look for signs of a stabilized residential real estate market, we may see fewer sales than in recent years, but these sales should be of a higher quality in that they will have been made with stronger lending standards to people with stronger jobs in a stronger economy. Even this early in the year, we should begin to see signs of new inventory coming onto the market with a more balanced months’ supply of inventory and well-paced market times.

In the Twin Cities region, for the week ending January 11:

• New Listings decreased 14.6% to 958
• Pending Sales decreased 19.5% to 556
• Inventory decreased 9.8% to 11,810

For the month of December:

• Median Sales Price increased 13.1% to $190,000
• Days on Market decreased 20.4% to 86
• Percent of Original List Price Received increased 1.0% to 94.7%
• Months Supply of Inventory decreased 15.6% to 2.7

All comparisons are to 2013

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