C.A.R. REPORTS CONDO MARKET GOING STRONG

Though condominiums represented just 16 percent of California home sales in 2004, about the same share as in recent years, the California condominium market is going strong, according to a recent C.A.R. report. Annual sales of condominiums were 20 percent higher in 2004 compared with 2000, and annual price appreciation of condos has surpassed that of detached homes in all but one of the past five years. With lower sales prices -- the median price for condos is generally 75 to 80 percent of the median for detached homes -- condos tend to appeal more to first-time homebuyers, who accounted for 37 percent of all condominium buyers in 2004."The condominium market segment appeals more to a slightly different customer base compared with the detached home market, with single-person households accounting for 44 percent of all condominium buyers, compared with 24 percent of all detached homebuyers," said C.A.R. President Jim Hamilton. "According to C.A.R. research, while married households accounted for 64 percent of all detached homebuyers, they accounted for just 42 percent of all condominium purchases."