Downtown

Downtown St. Paul in 2021

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Downtown St. Paul was pretty quiet last year. So many events were canceled, restaurants closed and without downtown workers. I was downtown on Saturday night and there was a lot of activity with people dining out and going to the Ordway. There were people out walking and enjoying the lovely weather we had last weekend. It looked like the before time except without a Minnesota Wild game or concert at the Xcel.

Rice park was clean and litter-free. Earlier in the day I saw people from the downtown alliance out picking up litter.

As home prices have been going up the median downtown condo price went down by about 5% between 2020 and 2021. The inventory of condos for sale is higher than average and makes up about 11% of the housing for sale in the city. The number of condos for sale peaked last year and has been going down ever since.

This fall is a great time to buy a condo downtown assuming that the pandemic ends or lessens within the next year. Downtown St. Paul has always had ups and downs and I can’t think of a time when an “up” hasn’t followed a “down”.

 

graf of condo sales
downtown St. Paul condo sales

The numbers used to make the chart are from the NorthstarMLS which is deemed reliable but not gauranteed.

Downtown is a buyers market

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
graph
months supply of houses for sale

In most of St. Paul, we are experiencing a strong seller’s market. There is less than a two-month supply of housing which means it would take about a month and a half to sell all of the houses on the market. At the same time, downtown St. Paul is experiencing a buyers market. It is a weak buyers market but it is possible to buy a downtown condo after it has been on the market for several days without having to compete with a dozen other buyers.

Prices in the downtown area have been stable. Historically the housing market downtown has been out of step with the rest of the city. During the pandemic, some of the things that make downtown attractive went away. The sporting events and concerts stopped and the restaurants that stayed opened offered curbside pick-up instead of in-door dining.

It will be interesting to see what it all looks like by next year. Right now about a third of the homes on the market in St. Paul are downtown with prices ranging between $93,000 and $900,000

Rice Park, Masked Statue

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
Statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Downtown St. Paul is pretty dead these days. Things are a bit more lively on the lower town end where there is more housing. The Rice Park or Wester end of downtown is a ghost town.  During the before time there would be a lot more people at the bus stop which can be seen behind the statue.

Rice Park is empty. Even the pigeons are gone. The picture was taken at about 5:45 Monday. Downtown workers are still working from home.

Downtown has a lot to offer

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Right now about 1/3 of the residential real estate that is for sale in St. Paul is in the downtown area. Condo units priced from 94,000 to 900K and everything in between. They are not selling as quickly as the homes in other neighborhoods are. Right now downtown is the land of opportunity.

I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that one day the pandemic will be under control and there will be sports, events, concerts, and plenty of indoor dining happening downtown. There will be Wild games and baseball and plays.

I live near downtown and still find it a great place to go for a walk. There are businesses open here and there but most of the offices are quiet due to more people working from home.

For people who have wanted to sell their larger home and live in a condo with no stairs and heated underground parking now is the perfect time to quickly sell the house for top dollar and buy a condo at a reasonable price.

There are parks downtown too and the Saint Paul Farmer’s market, light rail service, and the Union Depot too.

E 6th street
E. 6th street – mears park

Downtown St. Paul condos November 2020

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

The housing market in downtown St. Paul has always been a kind of separate real estate market. In most of the city there is less than a two-month supply of homes for sale but in downtown St. Paul there is a seven month supply.

Selling a downtown condo takes two to three times longer tha it takes to sell a single family house in St. Paul. Prices tend to be more stable downtown than they are in other neighborhoods.

Right now downtown has 16% of the invenotry of homes for sale in the city with 100 condos to choose from with a price range of 90K to 900K.  For people who have homes to sell and who would like to buy downtown now is the time to do so. Median condo prices were right around 200K last month as compared with 240K overall for the city.

 

view
view from a River Park Loft