Unlike single family homes which have different trends across the 3 counties that make up the St. Louis market, condo sales followed a similar pattern in St Louis City and County during 2009. St. Charles County’s sales distribution differed in that there were no sales above $500,000.
Though plenty of single family homes sold under $100,000, the numbers are dramatically lower for dirt cheap condos. Regardless of the county, the majority of condos are selling between $100,000 – $200,000.
2009 Condo Sales:
Take a look below to see the differences in sales of condos for the 3 major counties that make up the St. Louis region. The charts below include condos and villas that closed during 2009 which were listed in the MLS. The data is obtained through MARIS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Is the Market Getting Better or Worse?
It depends on your price range and your county.
Compare the 2009 charts above to the same time period during 2008.
2009 Report Summary:
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St. Louis City:
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18% of condos sold for under $100,000
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49% of sales were priced between $100,000 – $200,000 and 20% of sales were between $200,000 – $300,000
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87% were priced under $300,000
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St. Louis County:
- 25% of condos sold for under $100,000
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54% of sales were priced between $100,000 – $200,000 and 11% of sales were between $200,000 – $300,000
- 90% were priced under $300,000
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St. Charles County:
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20% of condos sold for under $100,000
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69% of sales were priced between $100,000 – $200,000 and 9% of sales were between $200,000 – $300,000
- 98% were priced under $300,000
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The most dramatic difference is not in condo sales by county, but between condo and single family home sales. With only 2,702 closed condo sales across all 3 counties, there is very low demand for condos compared to single family homes (17,645 closed sales). With only 13% of closed sales in the condo category, it’s simply much harder to sell a condo than it is a single family home.
How Long Does it Take to Sell a Condo?
Compared to home sales where just over half of the closed sales got a contract in 60 days or less, condos take a much longer time to sell. Take particular note at how much the sellers came down from their list price. Sellers that wait it out for that needle in a haystack buyer, end up coming down dramatically lower in order to sell.
If you factor in the low number of buyers that are looking for condos overall and your price range, you can see that finding a buyer will be tough if you are not priced to meet buyer expectations.
Let’s assume you are trying to sell a condo in St. Louis County that is priced in the $200,000s. With only 13% of the region’s buyers looking at condos, you have a shot at about 1 in 10 buyers. But, when you factor in the county and the price range (6% of the condo buyers bought in St. Louis County in the $200s), you would need to find that needle in a haystack buyer.
What does all this mean?
If you are trying to sell a condo, there just aren’t many buyers in any price range. If you aren’t priced between $100,000 – $200,000, it will be extremely hard to sell and you need to price it aggressively if you hope to get it sold. But in EVERY price range, you need to be competitively priced if you hope to sell at all.
If you are trying to buy a condo, you should have a lot to choose from compared to buyers of single family homes. With a high level of inventory available and very low demand for condos, buyers are getting great deals.
To see more market statistic charts, see the market reports by community or zip codes.
PDF Possibly Related Posts:
- St. Louis Region Housing Market Report – 2009 Home Sales
- St. Louis Region Housing Market Report – Condo Sales (Jan – June 2009)
- St. Louis Region Housing Market Report – Home Sales (Jan – June 2009)
- St. Louis Region Market Report 2008 – Condo Sales
