My earlier post about the advantages and disadvantages of condominiums and town homes indicated that one drawback has been their historic lo...
My earlier post about the advantages and disadvantages of condominiums and town homes indicated that one drawback has been their historic lower rate of appreciation. They have increased in value more slowly than single family homes in recent years in the greater St. Petersburg area. This occurred even while condominiums and town homes generally suffered greater decreases during the housing slump of the Great Recession."Soaring" was how the Tampa Bay Times front page story in the December 22 issue described the current boom in local residential real estate sales. Looking beyond the headline, I consulted the October 2016 Monthly Statistics were just issued by the Pinellas Realtors Organization. They show that non-distressed traditional sales of townhouses and condominiums in Pinellas County rose 10.3% (from 556 in October 2015 to 613 closed sales in October 2016. At the same time, sales of single family homes stayed pretty much the same in number, dropping slightly from 960 to 957 during October (record low inventory probably plays a role here)
What was most surprising to me after watching these figures for many years was that the median sales price realized for town homes and condos rose 14.7% year to year (from $134,250 to $154,000). At the same time, single family homes rose only 10% (from $100,000 to $219,900 from October 2015 to October 2016. This larger increase for town homes and condos was pretty much unprecedented in my experience.
Of course, a single month's statistics do not necessarily signify that normal situation has fully reversed. However, they suggest three trends that bear watching: 1. Single family residence prices have risen so much that many buyers choose condos or town homes now just to gain entry to real estate ownership. 2. The available inventory of both single family homes and condos/town homes has dropped significantly during the past two years. 3. Florida continues to grow rapidly. In fact, it is now third among the fifty states in the rate of population growth, and the Tampa Bay region remains a hospitable place for newcomers and/or retirees to move. This combined with low inventory and (at least in greater St. Petersburg) relatively little new moderate priced construction (of both single family homes and condos/town homes) should likely lead to further price increases.
