Minneapolis Duplex Market Repeats Itself

Even though Groundhog Day is in early February, the Minneapolis duplex market acted like Bill Murray and repeated itself.

How so?

Well, in February the city saw 44 new duplex, triplex and fourplex listings come to the market.

In 2023, there were 45 new listings during the same month.

Where things differ, however, is overall active listings. Minneapolis saw a jump of 21 more 2-4 unit buildings on the market than last year, for a total of 96. That represents an increase in inventory of 28%. However, both years were below the number of options buyers had to choose from in the previous two years.

The Hawthorne neighborhood contributed the most new listings for the month with 5. South Uptown finished a strong second, adding 4 new multifamily opportunities to the mix in February.

The month saw the city of Minneapolis earn an average sales price of $416,560. This is above February of 2023’s $391,982, but below the low interest rate fueled average sales price of February, 2022, which stood at $455,270. The month’s high seller was an off market duplex in the Ecco neighborhood of Uptown that garnered a sales price of $709,000. The value of the month was found in the Hawthorne neighborhood, where a duplex traded hands for just $85,000.

Finally, in what may signal a change in the market specific to the city of Minneapolis,  the months supply of inventory stood at 4. a real estate market is considered balanced occurs when there is a 4 to 6 month supply of properties if there were no more new listings. Anything more than that is considered a buyer’s market, and less a seller’s market.

In the last four months, Minneapolis recorded a 5 month supply in November, 3 month supply in December, and a four month supply in the first  8 weeks of 2024.

What a balanced market means is that buyers and sellers are on equal footing when it comes to negotiating power. So, if you’re a duplex seller, you may not experience multiple offers, and a buyer will likely choose to have an inspection and may ask you to address their concerns either through either price or repairs.

It’s important to note that historically, balanced markets don’t last long.  They tend to be a quick transitional phase from or to either a buyer’s or seller’s market. And sadly, we won’t know which until after it’s occurred.