If You Think Houses Are Expensive, Wait Till You See What Condos Cost

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.

This week’s chart shows the 20 metro areas where condo prices increased the most over a year, and the share that sold over their list price in each, according to Redfin’s study.