Condo sales reached an all-time high of 12.7% in 2005
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) October 14, 2014
While Total Home Sales may have been a disappointment this year, Peoples Home Equity was intrigued by a recent Corelogic report highlight the growth of condo sales.
Corelogic, a leading provider of consumer, financial and property information, released an article titled “The Long-Term Rise of Condo Sales” on September 30th. The basis of the release is that condo sales have seen a “consistent structural rise” since 1981. In addition, the shares of condo sales vs total home sales have nearly doubled. Back in 1981, condo sales accounted for just 6.3% of total home sales. Condo sales reached an all-time high of 12.7% in 2005 during the last housing boom. After the latest market collapsed in 2008, condo sales never fall back to their lows 30 years ago; instead the trough of sales was just 10.7%. Now sales are back near all-time highs at 12.3%.
In terms of performance for a number of metropolitan areas, Corelogic states that “As of June 2013, 22 of the 25 markets had increases in condo sales relative to the prior year.” The content provider continues to state that “As of June 2014, Denver led the pack with condo sales that were 16.9 percent higher than a year ago, followed by Houston (15.5 percent) and Naples, Fla. (10.8 percent). The weakest market was Las Vegas, where condo sales fell 16.5 percent from a year earlier, followed by Honolulu (-14.3 percent) and Orlando (-10.1 percent).”
A big factor in the successful rise of condo sales, at least recently, has been cash sales because “cash share of condo sales was 53 percent in the first half of 2014.” Peoples Home Equity was intrigued to hear that, “in some of the markets, condo cash sales almost exclusively account for all sales. For example, three of the top 25 condo markets had condo cash sales that exceeded 85 percent.” This obviously means the condo market is vulnerable to falling levels of cash buyers. In the long run Peoples Home Equity thinks the majority of condo buyers will be those who are currently renting, young first-time home buyers. Unfortunately, as Peoples Home Equity pointed out on October 5th, "the immense size of student loan debt” is holding back first-time home buyers in participating in a property purchase at the moment.
First-time home buyers should at least apply for a home loan and see if they are approved. The process is simple and does not require many documents. If approved, first-time home buyers can filter their property search based on the amount they many borrow, and be on the way to paying less for a mortgage than for rent!
Contact a Peoples Home Equity loan officer today at: 262-563-4026