Traditional Minneapolis Duplex Sellers Win The Last Week of Summer

What a difference a year makes in Minneapolis duplex sales.

For the week ending August 25, 2012, there were 13 duplex sellers who received and accepted purchase agreements in the Twin Cities.  Of these, a staggering 76.9 percent are traditional sellers, who have equity in their properties.

One year ago, there were 18 sellers who accepted purchase agreements during the same week.  Just 55.5 percent of these sellers were people who did not need a bank’s permission to sell their duplexes.

As properties sold by traditional sellers almost always go for more than distressed properties, the average final list price for the 13 now pending sale duplexes in 2012 was $194,084.  Last year, the average sold price for the same week was $157,392.

There were just 16 new duplex, triplex and four unit listings for the last week of August in 2012. Just 37.5 percent of these were brought onto the market by sellers who either have equity or don’t need a bank’s permission to sell for less than they owe.

New listings for the same week in 2011 totaled 37. In other words, there were more than double the amount of new investment property opportunities for the week in 2011 than in 2012.  Most of these duplexes were put up for sale by banks, with just 35.1 percent belonging to equity sellers.

Meanwhile, single family home sellers brought 1.3 percent more new inventory to the market for the week than they did in 2011. Pending sales, on the other hand, were up 19.4 percent, contributing to a nearly 30 percent overall decline in housing inventory for sale.

As we wind down summer and head toward fall, let’s hope things continue to change for the better.