These are 2020’s top performing downtown Austin condo buildings according to sales data assembled by TOWERS.net.
| Rank | Building | Records | $/SF | Total Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Independent | 32 | $842 | $32,484,300 |
| 2 | Austonian | 15 | $884 | $28,986,750 |
| 3 | 70 Rainey | 25 | $811 | $26,094,795 |
| 4 | 360 Condos | 36 | $591 | $20,114,000 |
| 5 | Four Seasons Residences | 12 | $864 | $16,877,000 |
| 6 | Seaholm | 26 | $700 | $16,752,506 |
| 7 | Fifth & West | 9 | $790 | $10,852,500 |
| 8 | W Residences | 9 | $892 | $10,491,500 |
| 9 | Milago | 17 | $493 | $9,158,166 |
| 10 | The Shore | 13 | $465 | $6,980,500 |
The table above ranks the relative performance of downtown’s residential buildings using sales data recorded last year in Austin’s MLS. The Independent and 360 Condos should naturally fill top spots simply due to the number of dwellings in each building. One of our favorite buildings, Spring condos, didn’t make the list, despite last year averaging $644 per foot it was just shy of The Shore’s #10 position based on total sales. In the number 12 spot was the 5 Fifty Five. New construction sales are usually private, so if the Austin Proper recorded more of its sales on the Austin MLS then it would rightly be somewhere on this list.
The pricing premium for new construction compared to resale is worth mentioning. For example, 70 Rainey’s 2020 sales recorded an average of $811 per foot, which is 74% higher than its neighbor, The Shore, which recorded an average of $465 per foot. The same dynamic exists between The Independent ($842) and 360 Condos ($591). Developers will argue the newer buildings have higher land-acquisition and construction costs, in addition to providing more “luxury” amenities. 10-15 year old buildings can also have dramatic views, plenty of amenities, and fundamentally share the same walkable neighborhood as the new towers.
For context, let’s examine the overall performance of the downtown market in 2020. A casual observer of the market might expect that 2020’s weekly news cycle of shuttering offices and restaurants resulting from COVID-19 would drastically temper demand for downtown living. The data reveals otherwise.
The downtown Austin condo market in 2019 we’ll use as a reference year, recorded 289 sales for a total of $225,335,311, at an average of $592 per foot. Then in 2020, the market recorded 282 sales for a total of $223,000,037, at an average of $640 per foot. The 1% decline in volume from 2019 to 2020 is remarkably small. More notable is that 2020 observed an 8.1% increase in pricing over 2019.
Last month the market recorded 44 condo sales, which makes February 2021 the second highest month for number of transactions recorded in downtown. Second only to the 45 sales last December, which is the most ever recorded. Today, there are a total of 80 condos for sale in downtown ready for move-in, priced at a median of $773 per foot.
-Jude
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