When M Flats opened less than a year ago, its management didnâÄôt plan on more than 50 percent of the units still being for sale âÄî but they are. M Flats, a condominium complex located on University and 29th avenues, has 48 units, but only 21 have been purchased, with another unit set to close on Friday. The residents are mostly University graduate students, along with a professor and two couples. Bill Frothinger , the M Flats realtor, said the typical buyer is a parent of a student who plans on attending the University for five or more years and wants an alternative to renting. When M Flats was being planned in July 2006, Frothinger said management looked at the success of U Flats, a 76-unit sister condo complex that sold out in about five months that year. He said with two-bedroom units priced at upwards of $200,000, all the M Flats and U Flats units that students occupied were purchased by their parents. Chris Galler , the chief executive officer of the Minnesota Association of Realtors , said there has been a decline in the number of condo investors from three years ago. Galler said the marketplace for investing in condo units has dried up and he expects slower activity from that sector, which contributed to a lot of the condo sales. Investors in the condo market are typically amateur investors with no experience in being a landlord, he said, as opposed to investing in apartments, which is what the professionals do. Frothinger said there were landlords who invested in units at U Flats, but so far there have been none at M Flats. Galler said he expects financing for condos to continue to be an issue for six to eight months. According to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report , the overbuilt condominium market in the Twin Cities contributed to a 27 percent decline in multi-family activity in Minnesota. The report also said during the 12 months that ended in June 2008, condo sales in the metro¬ area were down 27 percent from the same period the year before. Marketing sophomore Jen Dobbs moved into M Flats in September and said she is probably the youngest person who lives there, but said she enjoys the location near TCF Bank Stadium . She lives alone in a two-bedroom unit, but her sister will live with her next year when she comes to the University. Dobbs said her family wanted to invest in the condo to resell it, instead of putting all the money into rent and not getting anything back. Frothinger said the decreasing value of the dollar has actually contributed to the sale of units to people outside the U.S. âÄúWe have buyers from outside the country that have seen a weak dollar and a strong euro or a strong yen, that come in and say, âÄòThis is a great buy,âÄô âÄù Frothinger said. Frothinger said the future 29th Avenue light rail station and the construction of TCF Bank stadium contributed to the decision to buy the M Flats land. He said he expects all units to be purchased by spring 2010.