Median home sale prices reach $380,000 in the Twin Cities
The good news for first-time buyers?
The days of multiple offers for sight-unseen properties, waived home inspections and other frenzied buying activity appear to be largely over, though a seller might still receive some same-day offers 'if the home is priced competitively,' said Frank D'Angelo, president of the Minneapolis Area Realtors.
Generally speaking, 'buyers can breathe more freely while buying their home,' D'Angelo said. 'In some ways, 2023 and 2024 reflected a return of a more normal market.'
Leaders of the Minnesota Realtors, Minneapolis Area Realtors and St. Paul Area Association of Realtors released their annual year-in-review on Tuesday during a press event at the offices of nonprofit homebuilder Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity on University Avenue in St. Paul. They noted in a joint statement that charitable efforts are one strategy toward alleviating 'the thorny trifecta of rising prices, higher mortgage rates and a shortage of homes.'
New construction alone isn't a cure-all.
Jennifer Livingston, president of the St. Paul association, said that new home sales were largely flat last year, likely because they tend to run 35% more expensive than existing homes. Some suburbs and exurbs such as Dayton and Lonsdale have seen a sharp uptick in residential construction despite rising costs and a tough financing environment, as did part of St. Paul's West Seventh Street neighborhood.
'Minnesotans are still moving, just less so than four years ago,' she said. Realtors are keeping an eye on how companies calling workers back in person also may impact housing markets.
Coupled with high interest and insurance rates, as well as low inventory, rising values have created a bit of a dual effect, suppressing metro-wide home sales under $300,000 by 8.5% last year while paving the way for homeowners with sizable equity to make their move to bigger houses and higher-end properties.
Nowhere is the trend more apparent than in the super-luxury market, where sales of homes priced at $1 million or more rose 12.3% in the metro to their highest level on record, about four times the activity for that segment of the market than in 2005.
Those luxury sales represent a slim corner of the market — about 2% overall — but a striking contrast nonetheless.
Nationwide, the median-age first-time homebuyer may be showing some gray at 38 years old, and further proof that young families are being squeezed out of homeownership.
Overall home sales rose only 1.1% statewide and 1.8% in the Twin Cities metro from 2023, which had been one of the starkest sales seasons of the past 25 years. Sales of single-family homes fared better, increasing 3.7% last year across the metro, and sales of homes spanning four bedrooms or more rose 5.6%.
Median sales prices were up for the year 3.9% statewide to $345,000, and up 3.3% to $380,000 in the metro.
The sizable increase in median statewide sales prices — from $253,000 in 2019 to $345,000 in 2024 — tell only part of the story, as monthly mortgage payments for a median-priced home have jumped from about $1,600 to $2,700 after insurance and interest.
Patti Jo Fitzpatrick, president of the Minnesota Realtors, said the market suffers from a lack of availability, accessibility and affordability.
'We unfortunately are falling short on all three,' she said. 'We simply don't have enough homes available for people who are ready and willing to purchase.'
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CBS News
19-07-2025
- CBS News
The average home price in the Twin Cities is over $400k
In the market to buy or sell a home? Real estate is hitting new highs in the Twin Cities. In America's 16th largest metro area, it's sweet summertime. High temps aren't the only increased numbers, but the ticket price on homes are too. "I think what matters is affordability to people, and that seems to be a problem right now," said Richard Webb who's a Realtor with the Webb Group, and has helped people buy and sell in the metro since 2004. "Right now if you're a seller, you start with a little leverage. In 2010 if you were a seller you had no leverage." Minnesota Realtors, an organization uniting those who help clients buy and sell statewide says seller activity in the Cities is now 4.4-percent higher while buyer activity is up 0.8%. This new data adds that the metro is seeing a record high median of $401,000. The first time it's over 400K. Webb says millenials are a demographic buying like crazy, and the price they're willing to pay has definitely kept his business busy. "It's unaffordable for an average young couple," said Carolyn Brochman, who lives across from a Minneapolis home for sale. Brochman also went through the buying and selling process recently. "I found it extremely stressful," she told WCCO. The market is competitive. "Almost every house we see if getting multiple offers," said Webb. "Work with a seasoned agent that can help you position your offer most competitively." Webb added that every suburb across the metro is on people's radar. Webb told WCCO that area inventory is improving despite currently being a sellers market. The metro's many Fortune 500 companies also are a big influence. The Webb Group is based in Edina and can be reached at 952-223-1462. More information can be found in their website. Minnesota REALTORS recent report can be found here.
Miami Herald
08-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Evan Ramstad: Think cars and trucks have gotten expensive? Take a look at tractors
America has moved on from the pandemic, but the industries that produce its vehicles haven't. Car and light truck sales rose 2.5% through June, and 2025 could wind up the best year in volume since before the pandemic. But that volatile era changed the industry and its consumers, and unit sales this year will still be around 1 million fewer than the nearly 17 million vehicles sold in 2019. Another vehicle industry common to many Minnesotans has seen even more drama over the past half decade: farm tractors. Many of the same influences are at play, including tariffs and interest rates. But the business cycle of the farm equipment industry is shaped by swings in farm income, which in turn is shaped by the uncontrollable force of weather. Farm income grew from 2016 through 2022, even in the pandemic. But it fell both of the last two years, leading to an abrupt plunge in demand for tractors and other equipment. It's a fresh distortion to a business that Greg Peterson of Rochester, founder of the Machinery Pete website, has been tracking for 35 years. And all of these changes ultimately have an effect on the prices consumers pay for food. "If you talk to any farmer, you know the price of new equipment has continually risen," Peterson said. "Through the pandemic, with the supply chain mess, those price increases were astronomical." List prices for tractors rose 50% to 60% from 2017 to 2023, according to the University of Illinois Extension. The price of new cars and trucks rose 22% over that period, as measured in the Consumer Price Index. Keep in mind that a common field tractor can cost around $500,000, 10 times more than the average sales price of a car or light truck. So larger proportional increases are hitting vehicles that already had large price tags. Then came 2024. "The market turn and slowdown last year was the most aggressive I've ever seen," Peterson said. Equipment makers scaled back output. Revenue at John Deere, the nation's leading maker of tractors and other farm equipment, was down 22% in the six months ended April 27. Peterson's website over the last 18 months chronicled other effects. Suddenly, competition grew between dealers selling new equipment and farmers selling used equipment because dealers found themselves sitting on a lot of inventory. Some turned to auctions to sell new machines. This spring, Peterson warned his audience that the spike in supply could turn just as quickly. "I started gently saying, 'You've got to be careful assuming there will be great used [tractor] deals for as long as there were in the past,'" Peterson said. "The space is different now. It's faster. It's clearing out quicker." Just as automobile manufacturers learned during the pandemic, farm equipment makers found it's better to maintain price control by cutting back production. 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Miami Herald
07-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Private-label brands at Target, other groceries losing stigma as shoppers budget more
Revenue from Target's private labels, from Cat & Jack kidswear to Good & Gather food, has tripled in the past decade to more than $30 billion. The enterprises bundled together would rank fifth among Minnesota's public companies, ahead of U.S. Bancorp and 3M, and 144th on this year's Fortune 500 list. The strength for Target and other retailers, especially in the grocery sphere, is the result of a shift in consumer shopping habits since the pandemic. Think Kirkland at Costco and Trader Joe's. As inflation rose, shoppers turned to private labels, previously known as store brands or generic. Private-label growth is the major reason Target leads the nation in trademark applications. Competitors, with their own private labels, also rank high on the list. 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"It's more marketing value so they can get this added profit." But even when a private-label item is cheaper than the national brand alternative, stores prefer shoppers buy the store brand, Bergen said. Stores often make higher margins on those products. "Private labels do have a price point, but the truth is, when we manufacture for national brands, they also have a price they want to hit," Teoh said. Private-label growth is strongest among Gen Z and younger millennials, with 44% and 39% trying store brands for the first time, according to Circana. Only 18% of older boomers and 16% of seniors say the same. Levis attributes that gap to lingering stigma. "Back then, if you weren't buying the Jolly Green Giant green beans, you were buying poor people green beans," Levis said. His mother-in-law, who grew up in southeastern Iowa, told him she would hide private-label items at the bottom of her cart, stacking the name brand items on top. But that frugality allowed her to feed a family of four. "There's a lot of noise that takes some time in people. If you hear something again and again, you believe it is better," Levis said. Bergen said earlier studies showed people hesitated to serve store brands to guests. "If an item was going to be visible to company, people would buy branded products," Bergen said. "But if it was just an input into a meal, there was more demand for private labels." That stigma has faded, but not entirely, he said. "We tend to buy national brands in places where we're a little more uncertain," Bergen said. "We don't want to be seen as cheap and the butter doesn't taste good. Or my kids are still sick and unhappy at home." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
