Minneapolis Duplex Sales Beat Housing Market

We won! We won!

OK, so nobody wants to be the leader in year over year home price declines, but I’m looking for a silver lining.

If you haven’t heard, Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller Home Prices Indices were recently released.

Of the 20 major cities measured, Minneapolis had the largest drop, with home prices down 10 percent in March compared to one year ago.

But hey, at least we’re in good company. Of the 20 cities measured, only Washington D.C. showed a gain.

Now here’s the good news. They’re measuring single family homes. I’m not seeing that kind of drop in the Minneapolis duplex market.

In fact, for the week ending May 21, the average listed price a duplex left the market at was $122,207. As the average property sells for 90 percent of the price it was listed at in today’s market, that means when these properties close, it will likely be at an average closer to the $110,628 achieved during the same week last year.

Of the duplex sellers who received and accepted purchase agreements on their property for the week, 28.57% did not have to consult with their lender before agreeing to sell. Last year, just 20% of the sellers had that same kind of freedom.

The number of new duplex listings for the week came in at 35, slightly trailing last year’s 37. Of these, 42.8% were offered by traditional sellers, down slightly from last year’s 48.6%.

If you’ve been thinking of selling your Minneapolis or St Paul duplex, it is a good time to sell; especially if your property would be a good fit for an owner occupant.

However, please keep in mind prices aren’t what they were in 2005, and probably won’t be for a very long time.

Case Shiller is out to prove it.