Lots of people left Minneapolis and St. Paul last year and this year, but just as many people seemed eager to live in the two cities, new data on home sales shows.
The Minneapolis and St. Paul share of all metro-wide homes sales hit a six-year high in the 12 months ended June 30, the report from the Minneapolis Area Realtors (MAR) said. And for most of those months, the sales action in the cities outpaced the suburbs, where far more people in the Twin Cities region live.
But while more people sold homes in the cities, they were met by higher numbers of buyers — quashing concerns of an exodus from Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"Not to say that there aren't concerns, but the draws of urban living are still there," said David Arbit, MAR's director of research and economics.
The association undertook the study to explore the impact of urban unrest, rising crime and the COVID-19 pandemic on the housing market in the Twin Cities.
While there's no evidence of disinvestment in the central cities, the economic and social tumult of the last 18 months has created an unprecedented "churning," Arbit said.
Between July 2020 and July 2021, the year-over-year increase in signed purchase agreements in Minneapolis outpaced that of the suburbs. Starting in July 2020, the city has seen 13 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains. And home prices in the city have increased for 17 of the last 18 months.
"I'm sure there were some who were rattled by the unrest, but a lot of people were just looking for more space and more readily found it a little further out," Arbit said. "As folks felt less anchored to their physical work spaces, it did open up some options."