Twin Cities Suburban Duplexes Set A Record. For Buyers, That’s Bad News.

Eight. That’s how many new multifamily listings came on the market in December in the 7-county metro area excluding the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul.

That is the fewest number of new listings in more than a decade.

And if you’re a would-be duplex, triplex or fourplex buyer, that’s a very frustrating statistic.

No city in that elite group contributed more than a single listing to the pool. The high bar was set by a house conversion with four one-bedroom units at $649,900. A 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house conversion in Stillwater was the most affordable new listing at a price of $309,900.

In all, there were just 35 active listings in the suburbs for buyers to select from.

There were twice as many closed transactions in December as new listings, with 16. The average sales price for this group was $457,731. Columbia Heights saw 3 closings, followed by Coon Rapids and West St Paul with two each. The month’s market topper was an 11 bedroom, 6 bathroom triplex that retailed for $830,000. The value add or redevelopment opportunity was a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom Norwood Young America duplex in need of everything that closed at $75,000.

These investment properties actually spent some time on the market before selling.  The average days on the market was 92, and if we include the days from previous times it was listed, the cumulative days on the market balloon to 133.

Nevertheless, there somehow managed to be just a two-month supply of inventory; still very much the definition of a seller’s market.

The week after the Super Bowl is the unofficial start of the spring real estate market. It’s also a marker of winter nearing its end. Let’s hope the combination of the two inspire activity as we move toward warmer weather.