Condominium sellers outnumber buyers by more than a 2-to-1 margin, giving buyers the most negotiating power they’ve had in over a decade, according to Redfin data.
As of September, there were 123% more condo sellers than buyers in the US, the largest gap since the listing company began keeping records 13 years ago and up from 95.5% a year ago.
Prospective buyers have been growing wary of condos as rising HOA fees, special assessments, and insurance bills mean higher long-term ownership costs. Higher mortgage rates can also chill the market because condos frequently appeal to first-time homebuyers who typically struggle the most with affordability.
The gulf between buyers and sellers is pushing prices down, but only modestly. Nationwide, the median condo price was down 0.8% in September from a year ago, to $339,000.
In today’s market, there are also more sellers of single-family homes than buyers, but the margin is much smaller, with those sellers outnumbering buyers by 54%.
Claire Boston is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
