North Hennepin News

First-time buyers and homeowners looking to downsize are flocking by the masses to underrated Twin Cities suburbs, leaving coveted communities such as Edina and Arden Hills with a sudden steep population decline, according to the Star Tribune.

The crowds are chasing bigger houses at more affordable rates, which has become unheard of in the more popular suburbs. 

Suburbs that had been less sought in the past emerged out of the woodwork to take the top places as the hottest real estate areas last year, including West St. Paul and Circle Pines. In these neighborhoods, sellers are getting solid, serious offers from buyers who are able to secure the right home for their family with a budget of less than $300,000. According to the 2019 Star Tribune Hot Housing Index, the top five real estate markets in the Twin Cities were all working class suburbs like West St. Paul, where sellers usually made off with a double digit profit off the sale of their home, full price offers and sales that happen in the blink of an eye. 

Circle Pines residents Shannon and Matt Riebow told the Star Tribune that they listed their home, a 1960s split-entry, for $249,000 last fall. The home didn't sit on the market for long before selling at $8,000 over asking price.

“We’d heard all these stories about bidding wars,” Shannon Riebow said to the Star Tribune. “We had two offers the first weekend it was on the market.”

Homes like the one that used to belong to the Riebow family are primarily being sold to first-time buyers and baby boomers who are being priced out of their current community or looking to downsize.

The trend can be observed in large, competitive real estate markets across the country, such as the ones in San Francisco and New York City. Todd Smith, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Premier Reality who sold the Riebow family home, told the Star Tribune that young families on the hunt for starter homes in top-notch school districts, are the controlling force in the housing market.