Container homes face challenges in Sioux Falls market

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A pair of unique homes sits on the north end of Sioux Falls, just minutes past Interstate 90. The homes are described as efficient and luxurious in their finishings, but they come with some challenges.

The pair of houses, built out of shipping containers by Container King, sit along E. Wallin Cr. Originally planned to be move-in ready by June of 2024, one sold in April of 2025, and the other, completed in late March 2025, is still on the market.

Matthew Fisher, realtor with Keller Williams, is the listing agent for the properties, and he talked with KELOLAND News about some of the challenges.

“Financing has been tough,” said Fisher. “Because — it’s just like a barndominium or a shouse when they first came out. Getting secondary financing is almost impossible because there’s no comps and no one really wants to touch it.”

Fisher says the house that was sold was done via in-house financing. “That’s really the only way to do it that we’ve found so far,” he said. “But most banks and interested clients we’ve run into said they can’t get the financing for it.”

When the first of the container homes was first listed, it had an asking price of $585,000. Fisher says that the recent sale came in at $406,000. “In that specific area, one of the most expensive homes sold was $450,000,” said. “So the area just does not support a $500-600,000 sale up there yet.”

Despite the challenges of difficult financing and a high price point, Fisher also listed some benefits of this more unique style of construction.

“It’s all welded together,” said Fisher. “So you could basically make any type of house you want out of this. You can extend things and open up walls that you traditionally couldn’t in a stick-built house. So that’s super neat.”

Fisher also noted the durability of the house. Made from shipping containers, he speculated that the houses could last 100-years before beginning to suffer in terms of structure.

He also noted the high end finishings of the two homes that have been built. “It’s got a commercial grade rubber roof on there,” said Fisher. “[The builder] puts higher end cabinets in there. The flooring is high end. It’s got a mini split system that’s super expensive in there for heating and cooling.”

Asked about the idea of more of these homes in the area, Fisher noted that permitting is currently an issue, as well as the price point.

“If I could have creative control on design and price point — we could put them in smaller lots,” said Fisher. “If you get that under $350,000, maybe $325,000, they’d sell like hotcakes.”

We reached out to Luke Stetz, the builder of the homes, who is now the president/founder of Vault Container Homes.

Stetz says while costs rose higher on the first two container homes he built, he “100%” believes the container homes could be built in that $325-350,000 price range.

“Affordable housing has always been my motivator,” he said over the phone.

Ideally, Stetz said he would like to be able to build 1000-1200 sq/ft container homes for price points of $350,000 or below, and that he has been in active conversation with the city and other organizations on that subject.

This type of price reduction would likely come with a step back in the finishings, but Fisher noted that this wouldn’t mean “cheap” finishings. “Instead of Quartzsite in the kitchen, maybe you have high def laminate in the kitchen or, you know, instead of putting real wood in the house, maybe you put luxury vinyl plank, you know, something like that.”

Asked about the current market for the remaining house, Fisher appears cautiously optimistic. Listed at $425,000, he said the color (this one is white, while the one that sold is black) has been a bit of a challenge so far.

“It’s literally all cosmetics. Everyone loved the black one,” Fisher said. “They’re having trouble getting past the white one. I don’t know why. People literally ask if we’re going to build another black one up there like that.”

Color is something that can be changed, of course, and Fisher said that the house has only been listed since April in its current state. He did note it had been listed prior to it being finished.

In terms of the target demographic for this house, Fisher mentioned snowbirds who are looking for a part time residence that would be low maintenance and efficient. But that’s not all.

Speaking of a client who made an offer, but couldn’t come to terms on a final price, Fisher says the person had raised the idea of using it as an Airbnb. “I think this house would get 25% or maybe even more every single night on Airbnb, just because someone can say, ‘I stayed in the container home’,” said Fisher.