COMMUNITY INVESTOR
SPOTLIGHT: TWIN CITIES
Twin Cities Market at a Glance
IT’S A SELLER’S MARKET An improving economy, a lower jobless rate and rising equity have propelled the Twin Cities housing mar- ket from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market. A lack of inventory is slowly pushing up sales prices. But the recovery is uneven, with some areas seeing fast appreciation, while oth- ers are languishing, according to Ryan O’Neill, broker associate of RE/MAX Ad- vantage Plus in Bloomington, Minnesota. A shortage of listings in the Twin Cities has sellers in control. At the peak of the housing market in 2007, more than 34,000 properties were listed for sale in the metro area. At the end of February, fewer than 11,000 active listings were available, down 22 percent from the 12,936 active listings in January, according to Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. New listings aren’t keeping pace with buyer demand, creating fierce competi- tion in many Twin City neighborhoods as buyers try to outbid each other for a dwindling supply. WHERE IT’S HOT Prices have reached new highs in several markets, including Edina, St. Louis Park, Plymouth, Hopkins, Uptown and south- western Minneapolis. First-tier suburbs like Plymouth, Maple Grove andWoodbury are extremely hot, says Bruce McAlpin, broker at Edina Realty in Monticello, Minnesota. The Chain of Lakes district—which covers five city lakes threaded by more than 13 FIERCE COMPETITION FOR DWINDLING SUPPLY
miles of pedestrian paths—is popular with first-tier suburban buyers.
District between Target Field and the Mississippi River—is becoming the city’s epicenter of art and commerce. Nestled along the Mississippi River within walk- ing distance from the Warehouse Dis- trict, the neighborhood was once home to bustling red-bricked warehouses, fac- tories, railroad yards and mills. During the 1960s and ’70s, the area fell dormant, but it is getting a second wind as artists move into its abandoned warehouses, and new development is kick-starting a
LOWUNEMPLOYMENT RATE Minneapolis is a largely white-collar town, where jobs are plentiful because it is home to some of the nation’s biggest corporations, including 19 Fortune 500 companies like Best Buy, 3M, Target, Hormel Foods, UnitedHealth Group and General Mills, which was acquired by its
NEW LISTINGS AREN’T KEEPING PACE WITH BUYER DEMAND, CREATING FIERCE COMPETITION IN MANY TWIN CITY NEIGHBORHOODS AS BUYERS TRY TO OUTBID EACH OTHER FOR A DWINDLING SUPPLY.
rebirth of the area. Restored lofts, restau- rants and stylish boutiques are popping up and attracting hipsters and Millenni- als, in particular. DOWNTOWN EAST A new wave of urban development is triggering a renaissance in Downtown East. An office complex, a park and housing are going up on the east end of downtown, along with a mammoth new $1.1 billion pro football stadium for the Minnesota Vikings that is replacing the razed Metrodome.
rival Pillsbury in 1988. The region also has the one of lowest unemployment rates in the nation. The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro’s unem- ployment rate is the second best among large metro areas, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OTHER BOOMING AREAS THE NORTH LOOP OF MINNEAPOLIS The neighborhood west of downtown Minneapolis and near the Warehouse
92 | think realty magazine july :: august 2016
Made with FlippingBook Online document