Housing Issues

Existing conditions

Housing mix and condition

Graph showing housing mix: 57% single-family, 20% townhome/condo, 18% general occupancy/rental, 5% senior.

  • Single-family homes are the primary housing type
    Ranch-style houses line a parkway in the Mall.
  • The quality of single-family housing is very good
    • Of the homes rated as substandard or fair, over 75% were built prior to 1960.
      Graph showing single-family housing condition: 13% excellent, 59% good, 25% average, 3% fair, 0% substandard.

Value and affordability

  • Single-family home values are high due to appreciation and land value
    Graph showing single-family housing values: overall median value, $326,850; built during 1990s, $716,800; built during 2000s, $822,000.
  • The Metropolitan Council defines affordability of for-sale housing units as units priced at $206,800 (2007) or less. This is affordable to households earning 80% of area median income.
    • Few single-family homes are affordable to moderate-income families.
      Graph showing average sale price changes from 2000 to 2006: single-family homes increased from $286,121 to $440,860, while multi-family homes increased from $182,661 to $221,675.
    • Condominiums and townhomes comprise the majority of affordable for-sale units.
    • Most rental units are not affordable to low and moderate income families (over 90% of our 4,400 rental units are market-rate).

Cloud nine, a new condo building, was converted from a glass-walled office building.

Housing needs and opportunities

  • Market rate rental housing specifically for “active” seniors is currently unavailable in Minnetonka.
    Graph showing how Minnetonka compares to neighboring cities in terms of percentages of households with seniors in 2000 compared to 2012: we rise a few percentage points to 25% in 2012, about average.
  • There were no vacancies among the 390 subsidized and affordable rental units in Minnetonka in June 2007.

A line of townhouses line the street in the Lakeside Estates.

Implications

  • We need to explore a mixture of housing types to maintain and attract families, seniors and housing for Minnetonka employers.
    Map of Minnetonka showing residential building types.
  • It may be difficult to encourage affordable and modest cost single-family housing because of land values and the lack of available land unless we explore new techniques and practices.
  • It is likely that redevelopment will be the major tool for the provision of additional multi-family housing units.

Issues and opportunities

  • Encouraging a reasonable mixture of housing type and cost to maintain and attract families, seniors and housing for our employers.
  • How to encourage affordable and modest cost housing with consideration of rising property values and the lack of available land.
  • Examination of redevelopment opportunities to encourage non-single-family residential development to meet overall city housing needs.