Minneapolis Equity Duplex Sellers Take Charge

What a difference one year in the Minneapolis and St Paul duplex market makes.

Last year, in the second week in March, banks still dominated the duplex sales and new listings. This year, they’re in the minority.

For the week ending March 16, 2013, there were just 12 duplex owners who accepted offers on their duplexes, triplexes and four unit apartment buildings. Of these, 67 percent were equity sellers.

It’s important to note that while there appears to be little sales activity, it isn’t due to lower demand. To the contrary. Many are receiving multiple offers as duplex buyers struggle to find investment opportunities in a market with so little inventory.

This is well illustrated by the average list price these 12 properties left the market at: $197,292.

During the same week one year ago, just 42.9 percent of the 14 duplexes that sold belonged to traditional sellers. With banks controlling the majority of those transactions, the average sold price was just $116,236.

Distressed sales also contributed most of the new listings for the week last year, with just 46.7 percent of the 30 new listings coming from equity duplex sellers. This year, on the other hand, traditional sellers contributed 73.9 percent of the 23 new listings; meaning they are once again becoming a dominant force in the market.

While prices haven’t, nor are they likely to reach 2005 levels any time soon, if you’ve been thinking of selling your duplex, buyer demand is strong and prices are better than they’ve been in years.