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Jim Buchta

Reporter
Residential real estate
Buchta has taken breaks from those beats to edit the Star Tribune's Real Estate sections and Travel, and to ghost write a book about getaway homes. He also has an intense interest in architecture, agriculture and the environment. He lives part-time on a tree farm and has a particular expertise in building science and food.

Latest from Jim Buchta

Consumer anxiety hastens winter chill for Twin Cities housing market

Sales are on pace to outpace last year, but purchase orders were down in October and homes were on the market longer.
November 19, 2025

High mortgage rates halve number of working-class homebuyers in the Twin Cities

A new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found a more than 60% drop in homebuyers with modest budgets from 2021-24. Meanwhile, sales of more expensive homes rose.
November 18, 2025
“It’s a good time to buy a house in theory,” Zillow’s Svenja Gudell said. “But practically, it’s very hard actually getting there.”

Eden Prairie’s most expensive house for sale is a $5.3M estate with its own ski hill

The south metro suburb, where there are dozens of $1 million-plus listings, is a go-to for luxury homebuyers who want to be close to corporate HQs along I-494 and the airport.
November 7, 2025
Editor's Pick

Editor's Pick

In Minnesota, it now takes a six-figure income to buy a home

House prices in the state are rising faster than incomes, making homeownership — long a marker of middle class status — out of reach for many.
November 3, 2025

Luxury homebuyers cushioning Twin Cities housing market

Prices are still rising, but houses are taking longer to sell, and buyers are asking for more breaks.
October 16, 2025

South Minneapolis' Tulip House hits market for $650K, sans tulips

The duplex near Lake of the Isles was originally a single-family home built in 1904.
October 15, 2025

Share your story: What is it like trying to buy or sell a home in Minnesota right now?

Share your experience to help inform our reporting.
October 14, 2025
FILE - A for sale sign stands in front of a house, on Oct. 6, 2020, in Westwood, Mass. Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped back up ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting where it's expected to announce another increase to its main borrowing rate. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday, June 9, 2022, that the 30-year rate jumped to 5.23% this week from 5.09% last week. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

More homebuyers are eyeing fixer-upper houses in the Twin Cities

As home prices rise, an increasing number of house-hunters are shopping for handy-man specials.
October 6, 2025

What’s happening in the Twin Cities housing market following Fed rate cut?

Mortgage rates rose slightly after the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point cut last week.
September 26, 2025
renee.jones@startribune.com 'For sale' signs were posted outside two neighboring Minneapolis homes Tuesday afternoon. ]

Ex-Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks selling ‘cherished’ downtown Minneapolis condo

The Vikings released the fan-favorite player ahead of the 2024 season, and Kendricks had been renting out his riverfront loft ever since.
September 24, 2025

Housing, office, Wolves arena: What’s next for the Star Tribune printing plant?

Developers are already eyeing the 13-acre North Loop property that will be available once the newspaper starts printing in Iowa next year.
September 18, 2025

IDS Center’s loan extension points to office upturn in downtown Minneapolis

Accesso, the Florida-based owners of the iconic office tower, negotiated a one-year extension on the $151.7 million loan and announced Associated Bank as a new tenant.
September 9, 2025
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