Delta Associates: Metro Area Condo Prices Up 3.1% from Sept. 2011

Delta Associates Washington Condominium Market Overview -- reporting data for third quarter 2012 -- was released November 2.

The condo market continues to improve in the Washington metro area by most measures including increased sales volume, percentage of newer product on the market, and prices. Delta anticipates prices to continue their upward movement over the next 18 to 24 months; sales pace will pick up as well.

• Sales: New unit sales volume in the Washington metro area during the third quarter was 533 units (the second quarter in a row that the total was above 500 units), and 1,948 units for the 12-month period ending September 2012.  By comparison, in the Baltimore metro area, there were 80 net sales during the third quarter. For the 12-month period ending September 2012, there were 309 sales metro-wide.
  
  
• Prices: New condo sales prices are up 3.1% in the Washington metro area from September 2011.
  
  
• Concessions: Concessions are down 50 basis points from a year ago, averaging 1.7% of the asking price at September 2012.
  
  
• Inventory: Washington is experiencing low housing inventory in most areas.  Parts of the District, Fairfax County & the City of Falls Church, and Prince George's County have the lowest inventory-to-sales ratios in the metro area.

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Delta Associates is a firm of experienced professionals offering research, advisory, and valuation services to the real estate industry for over 30 years. The firm's Housing Outlook draws from a wide variety of sources including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Association of Realtors, Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller, and the U.S. Census.