St Paul Duplex Sales Win Sibling Rivalry

St Paul and Minneapolis may be the “twin” cities, but when it comes to duplex, triplex and fourplex sales, it’s clear they are fraternal twins, not identical.

That’s because like Minneapolis, St Paul’s 99 active listings in May were more than any other month since October 2016.

That’s where the similarities end.

St Paul has a 5 month supply of inventory; two months less than Minneapolis. That makes it a balanced rather than a buyer’s market.

There were 21 small multifamily properties that changed names on their title transferred title in May. The West Side and Thomas-Dale neighborhoods lead the way with three sales each. The value-add opportunity of the month was a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom Category 2 duplex in the Hamline Midway neighborhood that sold for $165,000. A West Side 8 bedroom, 4 bathroom duplex topped the market at $600,000.

On average, sold listing spent 37 days on the market; down two days from one yea ago. Those listings that were taken off the market and put back on to look fresh tallied 62 cumulative days on the market before selling. On average, sellers received $344,186 and 98.6% of their original asking price. That’s down from 100% in April, as well as the 100% of May one year ago.

There were 48 new opportunities to buy a duplex, triplex or fourplex in St Paul last month. Eight of these came from the Payne-Phelan neighborhood, with the Thomas-Dale (Frogtown) neighborhood chipping in 7.

A North End 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house conversion is the value-add opportunity of the month at $190,000. The North End was also home to the market topper; a fourplex with a whopping 14 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms retailing at $829,999.

While St Paul bested Minneapolis in May, its reign may be short-lived. After all, next week we take a look at the suburbs.