In writing about the condo market in Downtown Minneapolis, and trying to bring the good news to people I meet along the way, I talk to and hear from plenty of home sellers who are uncomfortable with the market. Some are selling for less than they paid, some are happy to break even, and some have done quite well.

There are comments on a few posts here on Mplsguy.com disputing the statistics I like to spew. And while we do the best we can to bring perspective to the current market, with imperfect samples and volitility in other areas of the business (read: lender fraud & sub-prime mess), there is a legitimate reason to not believe the numbers.

We’re a new market. Sure there were 30 condo buildings before the recent building boom, but it was a sleepy market without much choice. Now that there a hundred or so buildings and almost 5,000 new homes (90% sold) in the market, it’s all different.

Do we know what normal is in Downtown Minneapolis condos?

We know people generally don’t live in a condo as long as a family home in the ‘burbs – so how many active listings are normal for this market? According to the MLS, today there are 342 previously-owned homes for sale with an average list price approaching $380,000.

There are still new-construction condos for sale, that are generally more expensive than resales. Once they’re all sold and come back around as resales, we’ll have a baseline to compare year to year.

Marketers call it the product lifecycle. Every neighborhood goes through it, and Downtown Minneapolis is still on the upward curve. Once we mature a bit, the numbers will have a bit more meaning.

Until then, activity is still good. Showings for listings in our office are ahead of last year for roughly the same number of listings. New construction continues to sell, and not everyone is singing a sad song.