Median metro home price reaches $400K for first time

Why it matters: The juxtaposition highlights something local housing experts have been saying for years: The Twin Cities is not a boom-and-bust market.

• Prices here didn't surge like they did in the Sun Belt during the pandemic. Now, nearly a third of U.S. metros have reported declining prices, with most of them in Florida, Texas and Arizona.
• Those declines have put hundreds of thousands of homeowners underwater on their mortgages. That's not an issue in Minnesota.

Yes, but: With mortgage rates still just shy of 7%, housing affordability — especially for first-time buyers — is still a major issue, Patti Jo Fitzpatrick, president of Minnesota Realtors, said in a news release.

What we're watching: Housing starts could be affected, and the Twin Cities is still short 50,000 units.

• Builders have kept pace so far this year, even in the face of tariffs and economic uncertainty, according to Housing First Minnesota.
• But that pace isn't fast enough to chip away at the shortage.