“They personally need to see a signal from our city government that COVID is truly behind us,” Gillen said. The city’s condo market will rebound, but it will take time and depend on rising confidence, he said.In the counties surrounding Philadelphia, which have fewer condos, prices for these homes have risen faster than prices for single-family homes, which follows national trends.
In Montgomery County, the median sales price of condos last month was $240,000 — up 23% from the same time last year. Delaware County’s median sales price jumped 44% — up to $245,000.Condos are about half of Philadelphia real estate agent Ashley Lauren Farnschlader’s business right now. Of her condo clientele, “it’s overwhelmingly young professionals,” said Farnschlader, an attorney and Realtor at Compass in Center City.
They determined that condos are a more affordable option that gives the best value for what they’re looking for, she said. They’re buyers who want amenities in their buildings as well as their neighborhoods and who “want to enter the home-ownership phase of their life but don’t really want to deal with maintaining everything,” she said.
Many of Farnschlader’s clients are looking for condos in the range of $350,000 to $450,000, which she has found to be a popular price for buyers.