St Paul Duplex Market Weighs In
Falling right behind Minneapolis, St Paul is the second largest contributor to duplex, triplex and fourplex sales. And like its twin city, it weighs heavily on how the 7-county market fares.
This was certainly true in September. The city saw 150 active duplex, triplex and fourplex listings, which was the fourth most in a decade. This was buoyed, in part, by 52 new listings.
The Payne-Phalen lead the way with 12 new listings. Hamline-Midway finished a distant second with 5. Payne-Phalen was also home to a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house conversion in need of cleanup and updates, and won the value-add opportunity of the month award at $169,900. A 16 bedroom, 4 bathroom sober living fourplex in the Merriam Park/Lexington-Hamline neighborhood topped the market and also offered a business opportunity at $825,900.
At 21 sales, September registered in the bottom third of total sales in St Paul this year. Nonetheless, sellers who did transfer title on their properties managed to do so at prices that were 99.2% of their original list price. The month tallied an average sales price of $339,190 and median of $307,500.
It did take sellers a bit longer to sell in September than it did in August, however. Sold properties spent an average of 45 days on the market before closing, and a median of 29 In other words, properties priced right sold immediately, and those that were overpriced lingered longer, which increased the average. This pattern was even more extreme when factoring previous market time. The average number of cumulative days on the market nearly doubled from August to 83, and median cumulative days to 35 from last month’s 15.
A Summit-University 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house conversion duplex with deferred maintenance provided a cash-flow opportunity to the buyer at $155,000. A turnkey Mac-Groveland duplex with a whopping 4088 finished square feet topped the St Paul market, closing at $675,000. Payne-Phalen finished the month in a tie with Dayton’s Bluff for neighborhood sales as well, with 4.
Of course, as sales slow, more properties leave the market before selling. September proves this, with 51 expired listings. This was the most for a single month since December. December always sees the most expired listings, as many listing agreements are written to end at the New Year.
In all, St Paul saw a 7-month supply of inventory. While this is still a buyer’s market, it is slightly more favorable for sellers than Minneapolis, which posted a 9-month supply last month.
If you’ve been thinking about buying in St Paul, now might be a great chance to do so with less competition for the best opportunities. And if you’re a would-be seller? There is no such thing as timing the market perfectly. The best time to sell is when it’s right for your life. Anything more is beyond our control.