Twin Cities Small Multifamily Market

The story: Prices kept grinding upward (+5% since 2024), but the market underneath downshifted — days on market climbed from 18 to 31, fewer buildings sold over asking, and buyers won back negotiating room. A higher-price, slower-tempo market, with Saint Paul and smaller 2–3 unit buildings leading appreciation.

Median sale price

The headline number never corrected — flat through 2025, then +5% into 2026.

Days on market, by city

Matched Jan–July window each year. Saint Paul cooled hardest — nearly doubled.

Minneapolis Saint Paul Suburbs

Buyer leverage returning

Share of sales over asking is falling; share cutting below original list is rising.

% sold over asking % sold below original list

Appreciation by building size

Price change 2024→2026. Triplexes led; fourplexes were the only segment to slip.

Median price Price / sqft

Market rent & the city divergence

Mid-2026 market rent. Minneapolis rents rising ~4–5%; Saint Paul flat-to-down. External rent index — all rental types.

Price-to-rent crossover

Price per unit ÷ annual rent. Saint Paul flipped from cheaper to pricier than Minneapolis relative to rent.

Minneapolis Saint Paul

Saint Paul — neighborhood appreciation

Median price change 2024→2026. Directional — small 2026 samples.

Minneapolis — neighborhood appreciation

Median price change 2024→2026. Directional — small 2026 samples.

City comparison

Minneapolis & Saint Paul carry enough volume to track every year; other cities pooled as suburbs.

County breakdown

Hennepin and Ramsey account for ~88% of all metro 2–4 unit sales.

Method: 2,280 closed MLS sales (908 in 2024, 892 in 2025, 480 Jan–mid–July 2026). All figures are medians, which resist outliers. Days-on-market comparisons use a matched January–July window so the partial 2026 year is seasonally fair. Building size classified by the MLS # Units field. Triplex/fourplex and small-suburb figures rest on smaller samples — directional, not precise. Source: user-provided MLS exports.