Is the Twin Cities a Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Real Estate Market? It Depends Where You Live
Prefer to watch instead of read? Watch my Twin Cities market update here: YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/Q7g4680A5bU
If you've been following national real estate headlines lately, you may have heard that buyers are gaining the advantage in many parts of the country.
So does that mean the Twin Cities is now a buyer's market?
Not necessarily.
One of the most important things to understand about real estate is that real estate is local. A national headline—or even a statistic for the entire Minneapolis–St. Paul metro—doesn't necessarily tell you what's happening in your particular community, price range, or type of home.
And recent market data provides a great example. National Headlines Tell Only Part of the Story. In August 2026, Redfin reported that 36 of the 49 major U.S. metropolitan areas it analyzed were buyer's markets.
That's nearly three-quarters of the national metros in its analysis. But when I looked more closely at individual communities around the Twin Cities using August 2026 single-family-home data from Realtors Property Resource® (RPR), I found something quite different.
Communities including Lakeville, Rosemount, Shakopee, Hopkins, St. Paul and Maple Grove were still classified by RPR as seller's markets.
That doesn't mean every home in those communities was experiencing the same level of competition. It demonstrates why it's important to look beyond broad national statistics.
What I Was Seeing With Twin Cities Buyers This Summer
The numbers also reflected what I was experiencing firsthand with my buyers over the summer. On attractive, move-in-ready homes in approximately the $380,000 to $940,000 price range, my buyers
were routinely in bidding wars against three to eight other offers. In those situations, buyers sometimes had to make difficult decisions about how aggressively to structure their offers. Asking a seller for
concessions, for example, could make an offer less competitive when several other buyers wanted the same property.
But that doesn't mean every Twin Cities home was receiving multiple offers. The amount of competition can vary considerably based on the community, price range, condition of the property and the specific home.
That's why I don't like relying on a single headline to describe the entire Twin Cities market.
What Could Change This Fall and Winter?
There's another important factor entering the picture. Mortgage rates moved above 7% in September 2026, just as we're entering the traditionally slower fall and holiday real estate season.
We don't yet know exactly how much that combination will affect buyer demand.
However, fewer buyers actively looking during the fall and winter months can create opportunities for people who remain in the market.
Less competition can mean fewer bidding wars and less price escalation on some properties. Depending on the home and circumstances, buyers may also have more negotiating room
than they would have had during a highly competitive summer market. That can help offset some of the challenges created by higher mortgage rates.
So, Is It a Buyer's Market or a Seller's Market?
The better question may be: What's happening in your market?
A home in Lakeville may be experiencing a very different market than a home elsewhere in the Twin Cities. Two homes in the same community can even experience different levels of demand
because they're in different price ranges or have different features and conditions. When I'm helping someone decide whether to buy or sell, I want to narrow the numbers down from:
National → Twin Cities Metro → Community → Price Range → Individual Home
That's where the information becomes useful for making real estate decisions.
Watch My Twin Cities Youtube Video Market Update: https://youtu.be/Q7g4680A5bU
In this video, I walk through the national numbers, several Twin Cities communities, and what I was actually experiencing with buyers this summer.
Wondering What's Happening in Your Twin Cities Community?
If you're thinking about buying or selling, don't assume that a national real estate headline describes what's happening with the home you're interested in or trying to sell.
Tell me the community and price range you're considering, and I can pull the current numbers for that specific market and help you understand what they mean for your situation.
Lisa Rieken | REALTOR®
Keller Williams Preferred Realty
952-334-6555
Lisarieken@kw.com