For home sellers in the Twin Cities metro, 2020 couldn't have been better. For buyers, however, last year was a battle. With mortgage rates falling to record lows and a pandemic upending how and where people want to live, sales exceeded new listings throughout much of the metro. Bidding wars were the norm and prices rose to record highs, forcing buyers to several far-flung suburbs that topped the Star Tribune's fifth annual Hot Housing Index, which ranks communities based on the annual change in average market time, sale price, number of sales and percent of original list price received by the seller.

Those metrics, which are based on year-end data provided by the Minneapolis Area Realtors, are combined to determine index score for all communities with more than 70 existing home sales last year.

At the top of this year's list is a market area that includes the town of Stacy and several adjacent communities that are part of the 55079 zip code, which straddles Interstate 35 about 40 miles northeast of downtown.

Use the search tool below to see rankings for the more than 100 cities in the 13-county metro plus historical real estate sales data for those cities and others that didn't have enough sales last year to be included in the index. Historical data is also available for Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods.

Sellers are barely keeping pace with buyers
Total new listings and closed sales each year in the metro area.
Houses are selling at break-neck speed
The median number of days it took to sell a house in the metro area. Data not available prior to 2007.
Sale prices rose to record highs
Annual median sale price for homes in the metro area.
Fewer options for buyers
The number of homes available for sale at the end of each year in the metro area.

Search for your community or neighborhood

Type the name of your city in the 13-county metro area or your neighborhood in Minneapolis or St. Paul to see real estate trends going back to 2015. For cities with 70 sales or more last year, you can also see how it ranked in the Star Tribune's Hot Housing Index.
1: Stacy
2: Coon Rapids
3: New Hope
4: Cokato
5: Anoka
6: Isanti
7: Big Lake
8: Becker
9: Lindstrom
10: Zimmerman
11: Circle Pines
12: Fridley
13: Champlin
14: Princeton
15: Savage
16: Columbia Heights
17: Waconia
18: North Branch
19: Crystal
20: St. Paul Park
21: Monticello
22: Wyoming
23: Cambridge
24: Watertown
25: Clear Lake
27: Robbinsdale
27: White Bear Lake
28: Stillwater
29: Shoreview
30: Brooklyn Center
31: Oak Grove
32: Ramsey
33: Lino Lakes
34: Lakeville
35: St. Francis
36: Brooklyn Park
37: Spring Lake Park
38: St. Louis Park
40: Buffalo
40: St. Anthony
42: Inver Grove Heights
42: Mounds View
43: North St. Paul
44: Arden Hills
45: Cottage Grove
46: Blaine
47: Forest Lake
48: Maplewood
49: Prior Lake
50: Rogers
51: Richfield
52: South St. Paul
53: Farmington
54: Wayzata
55: Elk River
56: Delano
57: Albertville
58: Montrose
59: Oakdale
60: New Brighton
61: Golden Valley
62: Ham Lake
63: Jordan
64: Lake Elmo
65: Rosemount
66: Elko New Market
67: Eagan
68: New Richmond
70: Carver
70: Vadnais Heights
71: St. Paul
72: Hopkins
73: Roseville
74: Maple Grove
75: Corcoran
76: Andover
77: Bloomington
78: Hugo
80: Hastings
80: West St. Paul
82: Apple Valley
82: Shorewood
83: Mound
84: Plymouth
85: Victoria
86: Dayton
87: Somerset
88: Rockford
89: Woodbury
90: Minneapolis
91: Minnetrista
92: Deephaven
93: Belle Plaine
94: Mahtomedi
95: Otsego
96: Burnsville
97: Hudson
98: East Bethel
99: Shakopee
100: Little Canada
101: Norwood Young America
102: Chaska
103: Eden Prairie
104: Orono
105: St. Michael
106: Scandia
107: Annandale
108: Minnetonka
109: Medina
110: Maple Lake
112: North Oaks
112: River Falls
113: Chanhassen
114: Edina
115: Mendota Heights
Navigate the 115 communities on the Hot Housing Index

Stacy

Located in Anoka, Chisago, and Isanti counties, Stacy ranked 1 on the Star Tribune's 2020 Hot Housing Index. Average price per square foot was up 22 percent compared to previous four-year average. Houses sold, on average, 13 days faster than the previous year.

Historical real estate trends in Stacy

Key metrics provide a glimpse into how this real estate market has changed since 2016 compared to the metro.

Median days on market
The median number of days it took to sell a house in this community compared with the 13-county metro as a whole.
Median sale price per square foot
Prices in this community compared to the 13-county metro as a whole.
Annual closed sales
During 2020 there was a decline in home sales in some metro communities because of a lack of options for buyers.
Homes for sale
Active house listings by the end of each year.

How Stacy compares to the rest of the metro

Histograms use U.S. Census data to show where this city falls in relation to other cities in the 13-county metro area on key housing and income measures.

Median value of owner-occupied homes
Most metro cities have a median home value of about $250,000. The median home value in Stacy is $163,400.
Median household income
There are cities in the metro that have median household incomes as low as $36,000 or as high as $250,000. The median household income in Stacy is $66,319.
Percent owner-occupied homes
In most metro cities, the housing stock is dominated by owner-occupied homes with a relatively smaller share of rental units. In Stacy, about 87% of the housing units are owner-occupied.
Percent cost-burdened owners
Households that spend 30% or more of their income on housing costs are considered "cost-burdened." In some metro cities, as much as 27% of homeowners are cost-burdened. In Stacy, about 27% of homeowners are cost-burdened.

Credits

Sources

American Community Survey 2018 and Minneapolis Area Realtors (MAAR) and RMLS of MN, Inc. Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Not to be reproduced without MAAR's consent.

Methodology

Numerical rankings were assigned to each community on four metrics, then those rankings were added together to create the final index score. We included cities in the 13-county metro area that had 70 or more sales last year. The index does not include sales of newly constructed homes. The index includes many small cities, especially in more rural parts of the metro, that reflect home sales from not only that city, but also surrounding areas that are often within the same ZIP code. Here's how the rankings worked for the four metrics:

  1. We calculated the percentage change between the median price per square foot last year and the average across the previous four years. The change between those two numbers was then ranked. A ranking of 1 represented the lowest change.
  2. For median days on market, a score of 1 represented the most days on market, while the city with the shortest days on market got the highest score.
  3. For the percent of original list price received, the community with the lowest percentage got a score of 1. The highest-scoring communities tended to have an average percentage of list price received at or above 99 percent.
  4. We calculated the percentage change between the total closed sales last year and the average across the previous four years. The change between those two numbers was then ranked. A ranking of 1 represented the lowest change.