Exclusive: Strong October & September Downtown Condo Sales

In the year between the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009, a typical month saw 8 downtown condo sales captured in the Austin MLS. In four of those months, only 4 units sold. In the best month, 13 units sold.

All of this has changed in the last two months. Between September 1 and October 31 — a two month period — 28 downtown condo units ranging in price from $110K (Greenwood Towers) to $1.4M (Nokonah) were sold according to the MLS. In September alone, 15 units sold during the month. This is the second highest number we have seen in the history of the index — second only to the 22 units sold in April, 2008 during what was probably the market peak.

During the last two months, units have sold in a broad range of existing buildings including Greenwood Towers, 1700 Nueces, Railyard, Milago, Brown Building, 360, Shore, Westgate, Plaza Lofts, Brazos Lofts, Nokonah, 5 Fifty-Five, and Austin City Lofts — an amazing cross-section of the downtown market.

While a handful of units sold for more than $500K, it should be no surprise that many of the units sold in lower price brackets. In fact, 17 of the 28 units sold for less than $300K and, amazingly, 8 of the units sold for less that $200K.

Here are some of the key statistics on the 28 units sold over the last 2 months:

We’ll update the index soon with all of the monthly data through October. . . stay tuned!