John Murphy’s MEDINA REAL ESTATE REPORT

This is a spectacular walkout ramber located in Corcoran just off on County Road 116 about 2 miles north of Hackamore (County Road 47) which is the northern boundary for Foxberry Farms in Medina.

This is one of those homes you have to see to believe.  I had an opportunity to see this home last week during a Realtor’s Open.  The indoor pool is spectacular!  You cannot smell the pool in the rest of the house.  The home was built in 2000 and sits on two acres, has over 9,300 finished square feet and has 8 garage stalls.  For the upper bracket, this home offers a lot for the money.

Besides the price tag, the two main draw backs are the fact that it is just off of County Road 116 (but there is a nice buffer in place) and the home is in the Delano school district.  But if you can afford a couple of million for a home, you’re probably going to send your children to one of the nearby private schools.  For example, Providence Academy is only 6 miles away.  Click here for directions.
If you would like to see this home in person, please contact me.

I spent the afternoon previewing many homes in Medina, Orono, Corcoran area.  It was amazing to see so many empty, dated, ugly million dollar plus homes.  Some of these homes were owned by relocation companies.  They are the companies that come in and purchase the home from an executive so he/she can make their move across country.

I had a sense when viewing many of these properties that perhaps there might be a shift afoot in some of the buyers interest in owning a large home in the country.  Many of the homes I viewed had 5,000+ finished square feet and were situated on 5 or more acres.  The trend in the 1990’s and early part of the 2000’s was to build a custom home on acreage.  It will be interesting to see if that trend continues with $3 per gallon gasoline.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some beautiful homes, and most were occupied.  It’s just that it’s surprising how many were vacant.

Here’s a link to all the million plus properties for sale in Hennepin County Northwest.  (Note, for purposes of this search, I used $995,000 as the baseline).

Despite the 45% increase in listings so far this year compared to the same period in ‘05, many cities in the metro continue to experience price appreciation. Homes that are priced well and in excellent condition are continuing to sell. Those that are selling are keeping appreciation rates positive.

If you would like to see the complete report including # of home sales, high price, average taxes, square footage, cost per square foot and average days on market, please e-mail me and I will send it to you.

Below is a comparison of the average sales price for all single family homes, townhomes, and condos sold in the first half of ‘05 versus the first half for ‘06. The source for this is the 13 county RMLS system.

The updates for several cities throughout the metro will be posted tonight 8-1-06.