The condo market has been slowing due to surging insurance costs and HOA fees, which have priced many buyers out.
It has also become more common for townhouses and single-family homes to sell below list price as buyers gain negotiating power amid rising inventory and high housing costs, according to a recent report from Redfin.
Roughly two-thirds (68.4%) of U.S. condos that sold in February sold for less than their original asking price, up from 63.3% a year earlier and the highest February level in five years, according to the report.
The share of townhouses selling for below their original asking price also hit the highest level for February in five years, rising to 59.4% from 54.7% a year earlier—but that’s smaller than the uptick for condos.
The share of single-family homes selling for less than list price hit the highest February level in two years, climbing to 64.2% from 61.2% a year earlier—also smaller than the uptick for condos.
Across all property types, the share of homes selling for less than their original list price has been returning to pre-pandemic norms. But condos are closest to reaching that benchmark; the share of condos that sold for less than list price in February was just 3.5 percentage points below February 2019 levels, while single-family homes and townhouses were short a respective 4.1 and 4.9 percentage points.
Photo: Sigmund