DTLA Condo Pricing Reports Clash

LOS ANGELES—Downtown Los Angeles condo pricing reports are clashing, with one report, from the Mark Co., showing a 10% year-over-year decrease in condo pricing, and another report, from Polaris Pacific, reporting a 10.6% increase in year-over-year pricing. The news comes after another disagreement in market statistics last month as well, when the Mark Co. reported a 13% drop in condo pricing in January and Polaris Pacific disputed the figures.

According to the Mark Co., condo prices are up 2% for the month of February after January's steep pricing decline, but are still down year-over-year. New construction product traded at an average of $717 per square foot, up from $701 per square foot in January, and resale product traded at $584 per square foot, a surprising decline of 5% for the month but a 7% increase year-over-year, according to the report. Some of this activity was fueled by the arrival of 151 new condo units to the market, from Ten50. There are now 701 new-construction condo units on the market, and Oceanwide Plaza is expected to begin selling later this year. Erin Kennelly, the director of research at the Mark Co., was not available for comment.

Polaris Pacific, which doesn't separate new construction and resale condo product, however, has a much rosier view of the condo market. According to their findings, condo prices in Downtown Los Angeles market are up 10.6% year-over-year and sales are up 4.6%. While Polaris doesn't include price-per-square-foot information, their data shows that the medium condo price in the market is $525,000. “Interest is robust from both buyers and the brokerage community,” Rhonda Slavik, director of business development at Polaris Pacific, tells GlobeSt.com. “We feel that our report is absolutely the trend going forward for the foreseeable future right now. Downtown Los Angeles is continuing to see values increase overall.”

While the Mark Co. report shows concern about the new product coming on the market, Polaris believes that the demand far exceeds the product coming online, and doesn't see a single challenge for developers looking to unload this new product. “Given the current pipeline of inventory deliveries in the market and macro market factors, like job growth, low interest rates and so on, we see no reason for these trends to change,” adds Slavik. “Our expectations were already high, but they have been exceeded by the interest that we are seeing at these buildings.”

LOS ANGELES—Downtown Los Angeles condo pricing reports are clashing, with one report, from the Mark Co., showing a 10% year-over-year decrease in condo pricing, and another report, from Polaris Pacific, reporting a 10.6% increase in year-over-year pricing. The news comes after another disagreement in market statistics last month as well, when the Mark Co. reported a 13% drop in condo pricing in January and Polaris Pacific disputed the figures.

According to the Mark Co., condo prices are up 2% for the month of February after January's steep pricing decline, but are still down year-over-year. New construction product traded at an average of $717 per square foot, up from $701 per square foot in January, and resale product traded at $584 per square foot, a surprising decline of 5% for the month but a 7% increase year-over-year, according to the report. Some of this activity was fueled by the arrival of 151 new condo units to the market, from Ten50. There are now 701 new-construction condo units on the market, and Oceanwide Plaza is expected to begin selling later this year. Erin Kennelly, the director of research at the Mark Co., was not available for comment.

Polaris Pacific, which doesn't separate new construction and resale condo product, however, has a much rosier view of the condo market. According to their findings, condo prices in Downtown Los Angeles market are up 10.6% year-over-year and sales are up 4.6%. While Polaris doesn't include price-per-square-foot information, their data shows that the medium condo price in the market is $525,000. “Interest is robust from both buyers and the brokerage community,” Rhonda Slavik, director of business development at Polaris Pacific, tells GlobeSt.com. “We feel that our report is absolutely the trend going forward for the foreseeable future right now. Downtown Los Angeles is continuing to see values increase overall.”

While the Mark Co. report shows concern about the new product coming on the market, Polaris believes that the demand far exceeds the product coming online, and doesn't see a single challenge for developers looking to unload this new product. “Given the current pipeline of inventory deliveries in the market and macro market factors, like job growth, low interest rates and so on, we see no reason for these trends to change,” adds Slavik. “Our expectations were already high, but they have been exceeded by the interest that we are seeing at these buildings.”