Daily Journal of Commerce Quotes CondoCompare.com!

Sweet spot for condos: Below $400,000

Most sales or pending sales of Seattle area condos reported to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service in the last 90 days were for $400,000 or less, according to Casey Sullivan of CondoCompare.com, a Seattle-based Web site for researching, buying and selling condos.

Sullivan, CondoCompare.com co-founder and CEO, said many of those buyers have been “incentivized” by low mortgage interest rates, deflated prices and the $8,000 tax credit that applies to most first-time purchasers or buyers who have not owned a home in the last three years.

“It’s kind of this perfect storm for buyers,” Sullivan said. “This is the price range where people are going from renting to buying.”

In the Seattle area, 519 condos sold or are pending sale for $400,000 or less in the last 90 days, according to CondoCompare. A total of 131 condos sold or are pending for more than $400,000.

Sullivan’s firm defines the Seattle area as downtown proper (including Capitol Hill and Queen Anne) as well as Magnolia, Ballard, Green Lake and Sodo.

There are, however, some limits to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service data. It traditionally doesn’t include some sales of condos in new buildings.

Sullivan said he thinks condo sales above $400,000 are hampered by three things: Many potential buyers can’t use the tax credit, it’s more difficult to qualify for a larger mortgage, and people are having difficulty selling their current homes to move to the higher-priced condos. This is despite the fact that there’s some “pretty good” deals in that range, Sullivan said.