Twin Cities Duplex Inventory Skinny For A Decade

As mentioned the other day, Minneapolis, St Paul and surrounding area duplex, triplex and fourplex sales are a 20-year low.

Why? It actually shouldn’t be a surprise.

Would you believe there’s been as much as a 45% decline in the number of multifamily properties listed for sale every year than there were a decade ago?

Where did all the duplex sellers go? At this point, all I can do is guess. Perhaps those that bought in the early 2000’s, decided to hold on to their properties for life after surviving the foreclosure crisis between 2008-2014. Maybe they were purchased by REIT’s and will come back on the market at some point in the future.

When they do, the duplex market can’t help but change.  After all, for nearly a decade, duplex sellers have been a small crowd. That’s a little like being in high school. There aren’t a lot of people to compete against for starting positions on any of the teams, and if you want to be class president, you simply need to tell your friends, not run an actual campaign.

Low inventory markets require less of sellers. Buyers in these markets tend to be more forgiving of cosmetic flaws. More importantly, they tend to not be quite as fixated on what tenants currently pay for rent, rather than what they can raise it to once the lease ends.

At some point, duplex inventory may rise again. When it does, know that rents and condition will matter more than they do now.

And of course, if you’d like to sell now or even get an idea of value, give me a call or send an email. I’m always happy to help.