Condomania: North Texas’ condo market is even hotter than single-family sales
Dallas Morning News | Steve Brown | August 13, 2021
If you think the Dallas-Fort Worth housing market is hot, take a look at the condo market.
Sales of condominiums and townhouses are up by almost 50% in North Texas this year.
And while the single-family home sales market may have peaked — with year-over-year sales down for the last two months — condo sales are headed even higher.
Nicholas Cirigliano, who recently moved here from New York for his job, just bought a condo in Dallas’ Uptown district.
He’s one of the first buyers in the One Uptown residential tower on McKinney Avenue, a three-year-old luxury high-rise that’s converting from rentals to ownership.
“I rented for a year in Victory Park,” says Cirigliano, who works for a global tech firm. “I thought about a single-family home.
“But I’m 25 and want to be in the center of everything,” he said. “This more suited my lifestyle.”
Cirigliano said location was his prime consideration in picking the one-bedroom condo.
“Coming from New York, you are able to walk everywhere from this building,” he said. “That was the number one factor.”
The 20-story One Uptown tower at McKinney and Routh Street includes 196 luxury rental units and 18,000 square feet of lower-floor restaurant and retail space.
It’s the first Dallas luxury rental community to be converted to ownership in many years.
“There are opportunities for buyers in the condo market,” said Al Coker of Al Coker & Associates, which is marketing the condos to buyers. “Looking at the cost of all the new high-rise construction, the new condos start at $1 million and up.”
Coker said a 590-square-foot studio unit in the One Uptown building is priced around $260,000.
“Last week we sold 10 units, and we have so far had about 32 total sales,” he said. “A lot of people who have been living in Uptown and paying $3-a-foot in rent can afford to buy something.”
So far the high-rise has attracted a variety of buyers, from first-timers to more mature buyers looking to downsize.
“We’ve had a few empty nesters,” Coker said. “We have a couple of people who live out in the country and want a second home.
“I see a lot of New York license plates lately, and they are condo dwellers,” he said. “They are not ready to move out into the suburbs and buy a house.”
Condos and townhouses can be a bargain compared with single-family homes.
So far this year in North Texas, the median price of condos and townhouses sold by real estate agents has been $287,500 — almost $40,000 less than a median-priced single-family home.
And there are smaller Dallas-area condos listed for sale at less than $150,000.
“Because the price is lower, it makes buying easier if you are entry level,” said Dr. James Gaines, economist with the Texas Real Estate Research Center. “Condos are generally in the urban settings, so a young millennial might want to live there.
“There is an ability to have a better home than living in an apartment.”
And he said some baby boomers might find the lock-it-and-leave-it lifestyle attractive when they travel.
“They are tired of mowing the yard and are buying both townhomes and condos,” Gaines said. “It’s really a bifurcated market with both very affordable and very expensive condos.
“The low-end market is extremely attractive for that entry-level buyer.”