Condo Sale Suggests Turn in Market

VALENCIA, CA-The sale of a business park condo for $150 per square foot here suggests a price correction in the works, according to a broker in the deal. Ash Joshi, a principal of Capital Realty Solutions Inc. of Encino, is convinced a correction has already taken place in the local market for such properties after he represented the seller, of the 3,027-square-foot condominium at the 212,000-square-foot Discovery Gateway Spectrum Business Park II, the Christine Foley Trust.

Comfort Cooling, a local business, bought the condo, which is at 28338 Constellation Rd. ”This sale is significant as sale activity in this market is at a virtual standstill at unrealistic prices of 20% to 30% above market, and a glut of inventory persists,” Joshi says. He says the sales price “was reduced to reflect current market conditions,” and the property promptly sold.

Joshi explains that much of the inventory in the Valencia market is priced at $200 per square foot and over, and has been sitting for months. He says that the 28338 Constellation transaction will force a correction among both developers and other sellers who heretofore have not been budging on asking prices. The transaction “reflects that people are finally getting real,” he says.

Joshi has similar unit in escrow to another buyer at Discovery Gateway Spectrum Business Park II, which is a multi-tenant condominium business park on Constellation Road in the Rye Canyon Business Park, where units range from 3,000 to 6,000 square feet.