patrick.net

As a former Minneapolis resident (Warehouse District), I wonder if some of those pricey downtown condos have come down in price?

Yes, things are going vertical now - vertically DOWN, that is.

http://www.startribune.com/business/116445954.html

Close acquaintance bought a 1.7M townhome in St. Anthony on Main (new downtown river urban redevelopment) during the bubble years.

Care to guess where it's at now?

I won't even say - it's too embarrassing.

EPIC FAIL.

I frequently get laid-over when traveling back east @ Minneapolis St. Paul Airport. I've always wondered what the city was like. Dig the name, but maybe that's just because of St. Paulie's girl beer.

Great artilce, Schmitz.

The condo market in St. Paul has done much of the same, at least as far as values go. The two cities are very different beasts, though, as I'm sure those of you that have lived in "the cities" can attest to.

And, off the topic of condos, A close friend of mine purchased a housing-boom era home (built in 2000) in south Minneapolis last fall for $195k. Since moving in, she's realized how poor the construction was and is completely unhappy. It is my opinion that houses in many neighborhoods of Minneapolis, even the ones that were put up quickly on vacant lots to churn a profit in the boom years, are still WAY overpriced. And the kicker? This same house was assessed for property taxes at $220k.

schmitz_kris says

Yes, things are going vertical now - vertically DOWN, that is.

http://www.startribune.com/business/116445954.html

As I read your link, the auction reserve price is only 10% below original purchasers in 2007 (near the market top), and some units may sell above that. While unpleasant to the current owners, I wouldn't call that "vertical down".

Did you misquote schmitz_kris? That was an excerpt from my post...

Fisk, what are you talking about? Minimum bid for the auction is 50% (half) of the most recent list/ask price, and those recent list/ask prices were already down significantly from 2007 (perhaps by the nationwide average of 32%+ or so). I have lots of friends living downtown, and the condo/development market is getting (and got) killed.

schmitz_kris says

Fisk, what are you talking about? Minimum bid for the auction is 50% (half) of the most recent list/ask price, and those recent list/ask prices were already down significantly from 2007 (perhaps by the nationwide average of 32%+ or so). I have lots of friends living downtown, and the condo/development market is getting (and got) killed.

From your link:

"She bought the unit at pre-construction prices before they got married and got a deal, but still they've lost nearly 10 percent of what they paid."

It's actually not even 10% - "nearly 10%". A 50% off list/ask prices means little, how many have actually bought at those prices?
Also, the sale prices may well exceed those "reserves" significantly.

BTW, in absolute sense, $250/sq. ft. reserve is not "killed' in my count.
I'm somewhat familiar with Miami/So. FL. condo market, where even excellent units 5 min. walk (second line) from a great beach often sell
(sell, not reserve!) for ~$ 100/sq. ft. and occasionally as low as $80. That's killed.

I have lots of friends downtown, but I don't know anybody that still HONESTLY says, "I'm only down 10%..." anymore. They said that stuff in early 2008, but not today.

Maybe she got ONE HECK OF AN INCREDIBLE pre-const. deal? More likely, though, is that she has no idea what she could realistically sell her condo for or is simply in denial. There have been surveys in many areas where the average resale price is down 33% or more, and many folks still claim that their home is "only down 10%." It's just a statement, it's not factual.