A majority of Duluth renters - 56 percent - spend more than thirty percent of their income on housing. While rents are inching upward, renters' incomes are shrinking. Meanwhile, home foreclosures have thrown more people into the rental market.

The University of St. Thomas surveyed industry leaders about their expectations for vacancy rates, rents, and other conditions. Compared to six months ago, the responses were downgraded from “slightly optimistic” to neutral.

Renting outside Minneapolis and St. Paul has largely been limited to housing built decades ago, but experts say the suburbs are ripe for a new wave of apartment development. It's a trend driven by a fundamental shift in attitudes toward renting plus a growing appetite housing with urban perks.

Homelessness is rising in Twin Cities suburbs, officials say. It's more pervasive in Anoka County than in Hennepin County, but harder to detect, the Star Tribune reports. Some suburban homeless adults have steady jobs, but have been hit by foreclosure.

Roughly a dozen new apartment projects are adding hundreds of units in central Minnesota, the St. Cloud Times reports. It is part of the nationwide trend of more people turning to multifamily housing.