Jill Schramm/MDN A house is posted for sale in northwest Minot. The inventory of houses on the market is down this winter.

Home sales were up significantly in Minot last year, according to 2021 information from Minot Multiple Listing.

Blake Krabseth, Watne Realtors broker, attributed the strong sales to low interest rates. The rates also are affecting people’s buying power and the homes they are seeking.

“They are not looking for fixer-uppers,” Krabseth said. “They are looking for more move-in ready.”

It currently may be harder for buyers to find what they want, though.

“As we go now into the beginning of the year, the inventory is low,” Krabseth said. Regardless of the price range, choices are fewer, although shortage can be more pronounced in the price range below $250,000 because of the larger demand created by first-time homebuyers, he said.

The inventory last week showed 115 single-family homes on the market at an average list price of $227,663, Minot Multiple Listing reported. Median time on the market was 70 days.

Minot Multiple Listing reported 1,025 homes sold, including condos and townhomes, within the city of Minot in 2021, with an average sales price of $246,168. That compares to 809 sales with an average sales price of $231,204 in 2020.

The City of Minot Assessor’s Department listed the 2021median sale price at $225,125 from 1,156 residential sales.

Along with buyers sweeping up inventory, some of the current shortage may be due to the time of year because cold and snow impacts people’s willingness to get out and look or put their homes on the market.

Krabseth said the market generally pulls out of its normal winter slump in March. Last year, the Minot housing market had already begun picking up in February, and Krabseth isn’t discounting the possibility it could happen again this year. However, as demand increases, the area will need to increase its house listings to satisfy buyers, he said. It particularly is a good time to sell for anyone looking to downsize because demand could remain high due to looming interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year, Krabseth said.

“If the weather turns around, I think there will be a push to get a lot more done before the feds raise the rates,” he said.

Even with rising rates, though, interest rates still are at low levels, which could mean strong home sales ahead in 2022, he said.

“I think the demand is going to stay,” he said. “They are still going to be able to lock in some good interest rates.”