Minneapolis Duplex Market Causes Realtor To Duck

Shakespeare wrote, “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

So why do I think it’s still a good idea to don a bulletproof vest?

Perhaps because I don’t seem to have any good news for the Minneapolis and St Paul duplex market this week.

While this week’s statistics include the Labor Day holiday, pended sales were nonetheless down 20 percent from last year. These properties left the active inventory at an average off-market price of $105,292; a figure which once these transactions are closed, is likely to be lower yet.

Last year’s average sold price for the week was $126,631.

Of those duplexes that pended, just 10 percent were offered by traditional sellers. Last year, the week saw 24 percent of the small multi-family inventory sold inventory not involve a lender in the negotiations.

However, traditional sellers did dominate the new inventory, bringing 51.5 percent of the week’s new listings to the market. This is up from last year when 67.4 percent of the new listings required lender participation.

In the single-family market, sales dipped with the holiday to 519 signed purchase agreements for the week. This represents a year-over-year decline of 38.2 percent.

There are currently 27,601 homes on the market in the Twin Cities; an increase of 9.5 percent from last year.

That’s an 8 month supply of inventory, representing a market heavily skewed in the buyer’s favor.