Once again, we pick up here where we left off with the fifth part of our new series: Lessons from the RREAR, where we dig deeper into the data found in our Annual Residential Real Estate Activity Report. This is also the final installment of this series -- at least until next year when we have a whole mess a' 2008 data to play with.
Today's subject, and the final subject of the year: Single-Family Detached Sales.
The Twin Cities have always been a "traditional" kind of place, for lack of a better term. We're one of the least-dense metropolitan areas in the country, with our population spread out more diffusely and widely than most regions relative to our total population.
As a corollary, the majority of our owner-occupied housing units are traditional, single-family detached homes with yards and fences and lawns (2.3 children optional). As you can see, at least 7 out of 10 of every home sold in the Twin Cities over the last 6 years falls into this category.
While this single-family detached majority has steadily shrunk in recent years as the townhouse and condo market boomed (in conjunction with the new construction market, not coincidentally), we appear to have reached our peak (for now), as sales of these types of denser, attached homes retreated slightly in 2007. With foreclosures and short sales taking up a larger market share in 2008 -- and single-family the most prevalent property type in those categories -- expect the upward trend in single-family sales to increase again in 2008.
Below are the Top 20 Areas in Single-Family Detached Market Share -- in other words, the highest share of total closed sales in 2007 that were single-family dwellings. These are the spots where a backyard is a birthright:
MLS Code | Area | % Single-Family |
605 | Sunfish Lake | 100.0% |
618 | Eastern Dakota County | 100.0% |
713 | Bethel | 100.0% |
710 | Northeast Anoka County | 97.3% |
716 | SP – Hillcrest/Hazel Park/Daytons Bluff | 97.1% |
305 | Mpls – North | 97.0% |
301 | Mpls – Camden | 96.9% |
721 | Lakeland/Afton/Denmark | 95.9% |
707 | Ham Lake | 95.8% |
368 | Hennepin–Northwest | 95.5% |
628 | Southern Dakota County | 95.5% |
303 | Mpls – Longfellow | 95.1% |
780 | Sherburne County | 95.0% |
361 | Crystal | 94.6% |
304 | Mpls – Nokomis | 94.4% |
742 | SP – Central | 94.3% |
602 | South St. Paul | 94.1% |
748 | SP – Town & Country/Merriam Park | 94.0% |
728 | SP – Riverview/Cherokee | 93.7% |
744 | SP – Como | 93.5% |
And below are the Bottom 20 Areas in Single-Family Detached Share. These are the spots where you and your neighbor are more likely to share a wall than a snowblower:
MLS Code | Area | % Single-Family |
302 | Mpls – Central | 1.5% |
741 | SP – Downtown/Capital Heights | 2.7% |
300 | Mpls – Calhoun-Isles | 35.9% |
310 | Mpls – University | 43.4% |
740 | SP – Crocus Hill | 44.3% |
614 | Apple Valley | 48.3% |
608 | Inver Grove Heights | 48.5% |
307 | Mpls – Phillips | 48.8% |
386 | Hopkins | 50.9% |
726 | Woodbury | 51.2% |
612 | Burnsville | 52.9% |
604 | Mendota/Lilydale/Mendota Heights | 53.0% |
640 | Shakopee | 53.4% |
374 | Plymouth | 54.5% |
610 | Eagan | 54.6% |
387 | Minnetonka | 58.0% |
392 | Eden Prairie | 58.3% |
617 | Hastings | 58.4% |
706 | North Central Suburban | 59.4% |
616 | Rosemount | 61.2% |
For a look at the geographic boundaries of these MLS areas, visit here. See you next year for more Lessons from the RREAR.