The downtown condominium market can’t get much lower, but it did in the first quarter.
Developers sold just 113 downtown condos in the first three months of 2012, down from 156 in the fourth quarter and 189 in the first quarter a year earlier, according to a report from Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based consulting firm.
While many homebuyers have started to take advantage of record-low interest rates and falling home prices, the numbers suggest that has yet to happen in any meaningful way at new downtown projects. Many would-be owners remain on the sidelines as renters, waiting for prices to stabilize before making a purchase.
“There hasn’t been a great feeling of urgency to buy,” says Gail Lissner, vice president at Appraisal Research.
