Downtown condo sales in June were the highest in over 5 years, the sales growth was dominated by increased sales in Columbia and East Village. Columbia, the more expensive district, and East Village, the mid-range price district, comprised 60% of the downtown sales.  The pending activity in June indicates a continuation of increased sales into next month, using the same pending to sold conversion as May. The Contingent listing status offers accepted waiting for lender approval, also increased in June versus May. The combination of pending and contingent indicate the high level of buyer activity Downtown. The combination of high buyer activity and a reduction in absolute inventory has resulted in a decline of the months supply from 11 months in March to 4.8 months in June. The decline in months supply indicates that price stability is arriving in the Downtown market. Due to the wide variation in prices between the Downtown districts and shifts in the sales mix by district, the best way to measure price trends is by district.  While year over year price trends show all districts with price drops the Marina district had the largest drop in prices. Price declines from the peak prices have both Marina and Cortez Hill with the largest price declines. Price changes are measured by both absolute prices and $/sq ft to take into account the difference in sold condo sizes. The current state of the Downtown market, the high demand and low months supply creates a more stable market than in the recent past. However, it is evident from the increase in Columbia sales activity that the newer buildings are attracting much of the increased demand while Marina is lagging in sales and has high inventory and months supply. It will depend on what and where you buy that will determine the price trends you will experience. |