If You Think Houses Are Expensive, Wait Till You See What Condos Cost - Article from NY Times

As prices for single-family homes balloon out of reach, many buyers are turning to condos, sending that market into a frenzy of its own.

By Michael Kolomatsky

April 14, 2022

Median single-family home prices in the United States reached a record of $406,000 in February, a nearly 16 percent increase compared to a year earlier and nearly 35 percent over February 2020, according to a study by Redfin. New interest-rate hikes will make these homes even less affordable, leading many buyers to turn to condos as an alternative. While the condo market slouched at the start of the pandemic — due in part to concerns about living in proximity to others — demand has roared back. Redfin’s study found that the rate of inventory decline for condos is now outpacing that of single-family homes: There were 28 percent fewer condos for sale in February compared to February 2021, and 14 percent fewer single-family homes. As a result, the median sale price for condos hit a record high of $319,000 this February. Among the 67 largest markets tracked by Redfin, Nashville saw the greatest one-year price increase — a stunning 49 percent. (Texas was excluded from the study because nondisclosure laws prevented accurate data collection, as were metros with fewer than 50 condo sales in February.) More condos are selling over asking price, too — 41 percent in February, up from about 25 percent last February. San Jose, Calif., topped that list, with more than 74 percent of condos going for over asking price. The greatest over-asking-price premium was found in San Francisco, where condos sold at an average of about 6 percent over asking.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/realestate/condos-cost-increase-house-prices.html?smid=url-share

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Which Generation buys the most expensive homes?

March 23, 2022

Millennials comprise 43% of home buyers—the highest of any generation in the current market. Their numbers in real estate are growing, as last year, they comprised 37% of buyers. Millennials—consumers between the ages of 23 to 41 years old—are the most likely generation to use the internet to find a home they ultimately purchase as well as the most likely to use a real estate agent, according to a new study released by the National Association of REALTORS®, The 2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report. “Some young adults have used the pandemic to their financial advantage by paying down debt and cutting the cost of rent by moving in with the family,” says Jessica Lautz, NAR’s vice president of demographics and behavioral insights. “They are now jumping headfirst into homeownership. While young buyers use new tech tools, they also use real estate agents at higher rates than other buyers to help find the right home and negotiate the terms of the transaction.” While millennials may be in the housing market in higher numbers, Generation X is buying the most expensive homes. Buyers in that group purchased homes at a median price of $320,000. That was higher than younger millennials (between the ages of 23 to 31), at a median of $250,000, and older millennials (ages 32 to 41), at $315,000. Baby boomers between the ages of 57 to 66 purchased homes at a median price of $301,000, while those between the ages of 67 to 75 purchased homes at a median of $295,000, according to NAR’s data. Regardless of age, buyers from all generations are relying on real estate professionals for help. The most common reasons for using an agent were wanting help in finding the right home to purchase and negotiating the terms of the sale and the price. Younger millennials (between the ages of 23 to 31) and members of the silent generation (those between the ages of 76 and 96) were the most likely to say they also want an agent to help them with the paperwork. Read more from NAR’s The 2022 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report.

https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2022/03/23/millennials-making-up-larger-share-of-buyers