Medicine Lake, Orono are Minnesota's new million-dollar cities
MEDICINE LAKE, Minn. — Real estate prices continue to rise in Minnesota but are highly localized.
Minnesota has two new "million-dollar cities" where the median home prices are now in the seven figures.
Steve Lovell has lived in Medicine Lake for 25 years.
"It's a nice, quiet area and having the lake right nearby, it's a bonus," Lovell said.
We asked him to guess how much the average home value is in his community.
"It's probably gotten up to $700,000, $800,000, I'm guessing," he said.
Lovell was quite surprised to hear the average in Medicine Lake is now a little more than $1 million, making it a new member of Zillow's million-dollar cities list.
Longtime realtor Paul Larson, with Caldwell Banker Realty, isn't surprised.
"Ten minutes from the Twins stadium here, 15-20 minutes to the airport. And yet you have a dock on the lake, west-facing sunsets, good fishing, good swimming here, fabulous location," Larson said.
Medicine Lake and Orono join Minnetonka Beach, Woodland, Greenwood and Sunfish Lake among the cities with an average value in the seven figures — a large concentration in the west metro.
Zillow reports an average Medicine Lake home value is $1,071,119, while Orono's is $1,043,372.
Larson says it comes down to low inventory, suburban demand and the strength and diversity of our local economy.
"In the Twin Cities, the work ethic and the jobs here are so tremendous that we have a little bit of immunity to the national economic woes that might happen," he said.
Larson hopes his new $1.5 million listing in Medicine Lake will be sold within 30 days.
About a third of real estate transactions in the metro are now cash. Deep-pocketed buyers who may have previously used financing when rates were ultra-low are now paying cash, which makes it harder for mortgage buyers who want to move up.