I got a call over the weekend from a man who lives in Lake City Minnesota. Lake City is a gorgeous area located onlong the Mississippi river on Lake Pepin.
Lake City is only about 75 miles from St. Paul and is a popular destination for twin cities residents. Lake Pepin is not only beautiful but a great lake for sailing.
The caller explained that he had a home on the lake and was looking for a condo that could serve as his cabin in the city so he could have a weekend getaway. Not a bad way to go especially in the winter.
Both St. Paul and Minneapolis have a lot to offer during the holidays and year around. The caller gave me an idea. I just want everyone to know that if they are looking for a "cabin" in the city I have some for sale.
A couple of people asked if the condo market has bottomed out yet. The honest answer is, I don’t know. It is hard to sort it all out because with the new construction each unit is not listed separately so I don’t have good numbers for tracking absorption rates. I can say that in downtown St. Paul there are 150 units listed and 11 have been sold in the last 30 days.
A significant portion of the units that have been sold are new construction. The average cumulative days on market for those that sold in the last 30 days is 238 days. The problem is with tracking the numbers is that some of the sold units were never listed but part of a new building and they show up on the MLS after someone has made an offer.
If only we had a crystal ball. Who can really predict…my market is pretty slow but I don’t know if we’ve bottomed out yet. I hope so but…
Stupid question – if people can’t afford to buy, where are they living? Perhaps we need some condo un-conversion action here.
Just a thought.
Monika – I am going to get me one of those crystal balls!
Erik – not being able to afford to buy is not all that big of an issue. The issue is they can’t afford to sell. Because they can’t sell they can’t buy so maybe they can’t afford to buy becasue they can’t own two at once. I think the days of buying a condo and selling in a year or two are over. I don’t have any evidence that there is a shortage of rental property. . . in fact there is plenty for rent right near where we live down on the river.
Nice information here. In Downtown Minneapolis, we see quite a few people buying city cabins. Recently a young doctor working at Mayo in Rochester bought a condo because she regularly drives up on weekends to enjoy the night life. We’re also getting buyers from the Dakotas and northern MN.
You’re right on about the difficulty tracking numbers when developers and/or agents don’t report on the MLS. On this side of the river, we have about 11 months of inventory in resale/previously owned listings – and about 20 months of new construction (after digging for accurate numbers from sales centers).
The market it good, and people are finding value. I’ve posted a recap of our market at http://www.minneapolisguy.wordpress.com, if you’d be kind enough to visit.
After reading your blog, I tried to gather more information on the increasing condo trend. What I have seen is that many are buying condos for the some simple reason like low-maintenance and also they are economical investments. I think it is mostly singles, widowers and even students who opt for condo houses. But still this trend is also fast catching up, as even my neighbor has sold his home and has moved in to a condo house. However, I am a family man I still stick to the family-home. Infact I have also selected house and will be moving in there soon. I will leave the link and you can check out house: ( http://www.resortscape.com/default.aspx?ct=D&pid=47982&utm_medium=linktous&utm_source=PT ).