Condo, townhome sales slow as low-end units disappear

BY LESLIE WIMMER

March 03, 2008

Condominium and town home sales in downtown Fort Worth have cooled off as lower-priced units have been sold and higher-priced units have been slow to sell.

Sales slowed in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to high sales in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to figures from Downtown Fort Worth Inc.

The slow down can be attributed to fast sales of lower-priced units in 2006 and slower sales of higher-priced units in 2007, said Jim Johnson, director of development for Downtown Fort Worth Inc.

“The condominium and town home sales in downtown tend to vary by the available inventory, by what’s for sale, and what we’ve seen in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the fourth quarter of 2006 is a definite slow down,” Johnson said. “Based on 2006, we were having [Texas & Pacific] lofts selling fast, and in 2007 the average price point was going up quite a bit. This is not necessarily reflective of prices overall going up, it’s reflective of what’s for sale and what’s being sold.”

In the fourth quarter of 2005, six condominiums and townhomes were sold downtown, according to Downtown Fort Worth Inc. In the same quarter of 2006, 39 units were sold and in the same quarter of 2007, 18 units were sold.

Despite the slow down, the Fort Worth downtown residential market is healthy overall and downtown continues to be a popular place to live, Johnson said, but Fort Worth is not immune to the slow housing sales being experienced in the rest of the country, he said.

Living within walking distance of Sundance Square, not having a long commute and not having to take care of a yard are a few of the reasons downtown living has grown in popularity, area developers and sales managers said.

Pecan Place, located at 704 E. First St., had its first homeowner move in June of 2006. The neighborhood has nine condominiums, which are sold out, and about 30 townhomes, which are 70 percent sold out, said Cindy Robinson, Pecan Place sales manager.

The units range in price from $300,000 to $500,000 and are between 1,800 and 2,700 square feet each, according to Pecan Place officials.

“A common theme [in residents] is the love of the downtown lifestyle,” Robinson said. “People can walk to the movie theater, walk to the Bass Hall, walk to outstanding restaurants and the Jubilee Theater. It’s clean, it’s safe and they don’t have to drive.”

Texas & Pacific Lofts at 221 W. Lancaster Ave. has 228 total units in both of its buildings and is about halfway sold out, Sales Manager Mary Margaret Davis said. Half of the development’s 92 mid rises and 12 of the 136 high rises are vacant, she said.

The units range from 566 to 1,400 square feet, and cost begins at $160,000 and goes into $300,000, she said.

“Since the Lancaster Avenue redesign is coming to completion and with us being at the Trinity Railway Express train station, we’re getting a lot of people who are interested in the future of using public transportation,” Davis said.

Davis also said that Fort Worth is behind where it should be on the number of condos downtown, but that the city is growing and downtown residential development is just getting started.

The Palisades at 700 E. Bluff St. between Pecan and Elm streets, began moving in tenants in early 2007. The development has sold 10 of its 40 units, and has a long reservation list, said Jo Ann Royer, vice president of urban sales for Williams Trew Real Estate Services, which represents The Palisades.

The Palisades units are each three stories with a fourth floor roof deck, have two-car garages, are sized between 1,875 and 3,000 square feet and cost anywhere from $309,900 to $549,900, Royer said.

One Montgomery Plaza on W. Seventh St. opened its 240 residential units in March of 2007. The units are 65 percent sold out and sales have remained brisk, said Waldemar Maya, partner with the Marquis Group and developer for One Montgomery Plaza.

“If you go back to the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, you have the sprawl that went out to the suburbs because land was cheap, and now as we continue to grow, now you’ve got people who are 45 minutes to an hour out, and with gas prices at $3 a gallon, it’s a whole different story,” Maya said

Montgomery Plaza’s units are sized between 800 and 5,000 square feet, and cost between $260,000 and $1,600,000 each.

Sales managers and developers for these residences agree that no specific age group or demographic is more likely to move downtown.

“It seems like the age group is from 18 to 80 and up, it’s such a diverse group of people and it’s not just first timers and it’s not just empty nesters or baby boomers, it’s a wonderful combination of lifestyles and age groups,” Davis said.