I have noticed more and more, when I sit down with clients to find out the reason for choosing to live in downtown Minneapolis over the burbs a big issue that comes up is: Transportation Costs. As gas prices trend upward it has struck a nerve with Buyers and the market is responding. We are seeing much more Buyer and Seller activity within the downtown core than anywhere else in the market right now and to be honest I don’t see this changing anytime soon. In the past Buyers lived the urban life for a variety of reasons. Now Buyers are being lured into city living now for some very specific economic reasons-transportation costs. It is universally accepted that low gas prices-while they move up and down a bit-are a thing of the past in our country. As this happens I see more Buyer’s taking a step back and asking a serious question: How much time and money do I want to spend commuting?
Long before our recent spike in gas prices, I preferred urban living due to the easy accessibility to interesting restaurants and things to do after work. Beyond that, it gave me the flexibility to work in any part of the metro with a relatively short reverse commute. Between the hard dollar cost and time, I’d still say commute time is my #1 concern when choosing places to live & work.