Twin Cities Duplex Sales Show Signs of Change

The 53 duplex, triplex and fourplex sales in the Twin Cities in March were the lowest total in any March since 2015.

It was also the first March in the last 5 years in which sellers received final sales prices less than 100% or more of what they originally asked for the property. In this case, 98.8%.

The metro-wide average sales price of $402,034, however, was the highest March since 2022. That’s significant because mortgage interest rates at that time were 4.42% compared to last month’s 6.7%.

Of the properties that sold, 31 were in Minneapolis. St Paul came in second with 9 small multi-family properties that found new owners. The high seller of the month was a 12 bedroom, 4 bathroom brick fourplex in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, which closed at $749,900. A 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom contractor special in the city’s Jordan neighborhood offered a sweat equity opportunity at $138,500.

Sold properties spent an average of 53 days on the market before selling. That is the highest March average since March 2017. When factoring in those that were listed, cancelled, then put back on the market (CDOM), that number grew to 84. In a bit of good news, that was a drop of 8.7% from last year.

Would-be small multi-family buyers got some good news in March with 132 new listings hitting the market. Historically the official start of the spring market, this number was an increase of 13.8% over new inventory in March, 2024. In all, buyers had 236 active listings to choose from in the month.

Minneapolis contributed the most new opportunities with 80. St Paul finished second with 32. The value-add opportunity was the same Jordan neighborhood duplex mentioned in the solds, which listed for $130,000. A turn-key new construction triplex in Minneapolis’ Central neighborhood featured 9 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and came on the market at $1,099,900.

There is currently a 4 month supply of inventory in Minneapolis, St Paul and surrounding suburbs. While this is technically still in seller’s market territory, it is longer than the 1, 2 and 3 month supply numbers typical of the last decade.

After a decade or more of a seller’s market, this may be the year buyer’s regain some negotiating power. As always, more will be revealed.