Q: Does the same (high activity) apply to condos as SFH?

Friend and Client Bruce posed this question on my FB business page (www.facebook.com/ThriveSeattle) after the last post. My answer:

Bruce, good question. While some condominiums are increasing in price (Escala had one listed at $1.750M and _raised_ the price to $1.825M and they say they have seen multiple offers on others), I don’t see the broader condo market doing the same. Activity has improved, though, from dismal to OK. Fears of “shadow” inventory seem more relevant in condos than in single family homes, and the buyer pool is smaller than it was several years ago. It used to be that we’d see a lot of younger buyers who thought of condo purchases as a sure-thing, equity-building stepping-stone to single family detached home ownership. Then, things changed. That pool of buyers either lost or saw friends lose, so they seem to be skipping that step, and going directly to townhomes and “affordable” single family detached (like the home featured in the piece).