As a follow-up to the hotel-condo article I wanted to discuss another, more meaningful trend in the permanent housing market.  This trend is the dramatic increase in the number of apartment buildings being converted to condos.

The apartment conversion trend has come about as a means of  feeding the growing hunger of  buyers for more affordable housing.  An example of this is the old "Washington West" apartment complex in Wenatchee that was converted from rental apartments to condo residences (for purchase) many years ago.   This was a limited practice in the past but has grown dramatically in many markets over the last couple of years.   The most pressure has been in markets where single family home prices have sky-rocketed and the "apartment-to condo" became an affordable option.

This is an interesting trend, meeting some definite demand. However, there are some problems created through this process.  As a real estate agent representing buyers interests in a transaction, my first concern would be for the quality of construction being passed along to the buyers.  In general, it is my opinion that apartment buildings are generally not built with as high of quality as a condo project would be.  By this I mean, if a development is being developed as permanent residence condos, I believe quality of construction would be a higher consideration than a project that was being developed strictly as apartments.  Wall insulation for noise reduction is one particular example I can think of.   This isn't true for every project, of course, but is something to consider if you're buying a converted apartment.

Another downside is:  As these apartment buildings are converted, the tenants are displaced. Can you imagine 100 tenants having their leases terminated about the same time and going out to look for another rental.  This increased demand in one condensed market area will probably raise the rental prices as well.  Supply and demand. 

So, while the apartment conversions do supply a demand, it also has a downside.  New condo projects are more desireable in my opinion.   There is a demand for additional condo projects in the Wenatcee real estate market and single level living projects are more desireable to the "baby boomers" than two-level living. 

Carol@TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://TopPropertiesWenatchee.com
http://www.CarolsWenatchee.com