Tacoma: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sell 1,500 high-end condos in 14 months:
Hundreds of new, pricey condominiums exclude young singles needed for a thriving city core, according to the author of a study analyzing the downtown housing market.
Builders and developers say land costs and water views push prices beyond the mid-$200,000 range generally considered doable for the first-time buyer. And even though the number of unsold units remains high in some neighborhoods, they say demand is strong for high-end condos. Tacoma’s average new condominium price, according to the study, was $348,893 at the end of last year.
The 149-page report, finished last week, identified three kinds of future condo buyers: female baby boomers, young professionals, and married folks with no children at home. It recommended adding edgy lofts and more small spaces that Generation Y buyers can afford.
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As of December, all six neighborhoods surveyed averaged 14 months of condominium inventory, which measures how long it would take to sell everything built and approved.A healthy market for new construction tends to be in the six- to 12-month range, said Deanna Sihon, the study’s author.
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Since 2004, nearly 400 condos have been sold downtown with another 525 for sale and about 1,500 proposed, according to the study.
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A year ago, a hot market meant condo shoppers had to make rapid buying decisions, said RE/MAX real estate agent George Pilant.Not so now.
“Buyers have so many choices they don’t feel a sense of urgency,” he said.
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As in any type of residential real estate, demand is driven by population and job growth, said Paul Turek, an economist with the state Employment Security Department.But condos are a niche product that at higher inventory levels, he said, raise this question: Will good-paying jobs needed to sell such downtown housing continue to be created?
“I suppose that’s where the gamble is,” he said. “In the Tacoma area, we have some high-paying jobs. Whether there’s enough to support the building of the condos remains to be seen.”
Good luck with that. Seriously.
(Devona Wells, Tacoma News-Tribune, 03.25.2007)