Twin Cities residential market showing signs of improvement

The Twin Cities residential construction market is showing some signs of improvement.

That's according to a new report by Metrostudy, a widely quoted national housing data and consulting firm which found Twin Cities housing starts increased slightly last year compared to 2009.

Ryan Jones, director of Metrostudy's Twin Cities division, said the improvement is largely due to activity spurred by the first time homebuyer credit.

"Year over year, while it was a small increase of about 3 percent, the positive was that we didn't see a decline in the overall numbers," Jones said.

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Jones expects housing starts will pick up about 10-15 percent this year, but it won't be steady.

"You get one day of good news, followed by another day of news that sets it back a little bit, and I think that we'll just continue to see that across the year," he said.

The most recent findings are sending mixed signals.

Housing starts in the final three months of last year were down considerably -- 30 percent -- from the same quarter in 2009.

On the other hand, January contracts for new home construction in the Twin Cities increased 10 percent. Foot traffic at model homes also jumped last month.