Condo sales prices are dropping, but new rules may complicate affordability

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In a housing market where affordability is increasingly out of reach for many buyers, Vic Bulbon is looking at a type of property that’s becoming less expensive: condominiums.

With national home prices near record highs and mortgage rates topping 7% in recent weeks, buying a home remains out of reach for many Americans. Condos appear to offer a rare bright spot, with prices falling across the country.

But even with cheaper sales prices, rising homeowners’ association (HOA) fees and one-time special assessments are driving up ownership costs.

Now, guidelines released this year by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored agencies that back nearly half of all US home purchases, aim to reduce the financial and structural risks of condo buildings. Real estate agents told CNN that the changes could add pressure to the condo market by further driving up HOA fees, increasing the total monthly bill for condo owners, and potentially eroding the savings of a lower purchase price.

As of mid-October, condo sales prices lagged behind single-family home prices in 99 of the 100 largest markets in the United States, according to data from financial services company Intercontinental Exchange provided to CNN. Nationally, single-family home prices rose 1.5% from a year earlier, while condo prices fell 1.1%.

Bulbon lives in Seattle, which saw the steepest decline in condo prices of any of the 100 markets: Prices dropped nearly 7% over the past year, according to Intercontinental Exchange. In more than a quarter of the markets, condo prices fell at least 3% from a year earlier.

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“Condos tend to underperform in a softer market because they are often the entry point to ownership, where demand reacts first to higher rates and prices, and new condo supply can be added quickly where construction has been heavy,” said Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at Intercontinental Exchange.

Bulbon, who is blind, said he would only consider a condo at this point in his life because having neighbors and building amenities feels safer than being on his own in a single-family home. But he said he’s aware that buying right now could be a financial risk.

“If I get a condo, I’m gambling that it doesn’t go much lower,” Bulbon said of condo prices. “I don’t know if it’s a safe bet or not.”

The reckoning in the US condo market intensified after the 2021 collapse of a building in Surfside, Florida, which killed 98 people.

Investigations revealed that the aging building needed major repairs but lacked the reserve funds to pay for them.

Florida implemented new safety rules that triggered special assessments, extra, mandated fees charged to condo owners. That impacted condo prices and inventory statewide.

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“Certainly the condo market is in trouble and has been for a while in Florida,” said Sharon Ross, a real estate agent based in South Florida. “HOA boards were not really wanting to pay attention to safety regulations, and suddenly they all had to get on board with it.”

Buying a condo is fundamentally different from buying a single-family home. With a single-family home, a person generally owns both the house and the land beneath it. With a condo, a person owns an individual unit and a shared interest in common areas, such as hallways, elevators and amenities. That difference also affects who pays when something breaks. A single-family homeowner is typically responsible for their own repairs, while condo owners share the cost of maintaining common areas through their HOA.

The new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules, which take effect in January 2027, require condo associations to keep larger reserves for their buildings for new buyers to qualify for Fannie- and Freddie-backed mortgages. The goal is to ensure HOAs have more money set aside for major repairs and maintenance.

But the changes could also force associations to raise monthly fees, adding to the cost of condo ownership. This could particularly impact buildings that have historically had low HOA fees.

“Requiring certain levels of insurance and higher levels of reserves is effectively increasing the cost of getting into an ownership situation with a condominium – but you’re also increasing costs for existing owners,” said Andrea Boyack, a law professor at the University of Missouri who has researched the legal structure of condos.

High mortgage rates are deepening a ‘K-shaped’ housing market

“People’s pockets are already empty right now anyway. Affordability is completely out of control and on top of that, we’re going to increase people’s housing prices. I’m not sure some people can come up with that money,” Boyack added.

Many condo owners who face the prospect of such large repair bills or higher HOA fees are motivated to sell their condos, even if they don’t earn money from the sale, real estate agents in multiple cities across the United States said.

“As a condo owner, you cannot stand your homeowners’ dues doubling or tripling. People don’t like it,” said Brock Harris, a real estate agent in Los Angeles. The city is home to many aging condo buildings; many will eventually need structural repairs.

“And when special assessments come due, buildings are asking owners to pony up $25,000, $30,000, or they will foreclose on you,” Harris added.

Bulbon, who is shopping for a condo in Seattle, hopes to find a one-bedroom unit between $300,000 to $400,000, with help from his parents to finance the purchase. He said some of the HOA fees he’s seen are “eye-watering,” but he sees both benefits and drawbacks to condo ownership.

“If you own the land, it’s always good. With condos, you’re at the whims of a lot of things: the quality of the building itself, the city’s housing laws and the city’s economy in general,” Bulbon said. “But at the same time, condos are probably easier to rent out than houses if I need to move at some point.”

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在住房市场中，许多购房者越来越难以负担房价，Vic Bulbon 将目光投向了一种价格越来越低的房产类型：公寓。

由于全国房价接近历史高位，抵押贷款利率近几周也超过了7%，购房对许多美国人来说仍然遥不可及。公寓市场似乎成为一处难得的亮点，其价格在全国范围内都在下跌。

但即使销售价格降低，不断上涨的业主协会 (HOA) 费用和一次性特别评估费也推高了房屋拥有成本。

今年，为近一半美国房屋交易提供担保的政府支持机构房利美和房地美发布了新的指导方针，旨在降低公寓楼的财务和结构风险。房地产经纪人告诉CNN，这些变化可能会进一步推高物业管理费，增加公寓业主的每月总支出，从而给公寓市场带来更大压力，并可能抵消较低购房价格带来的节省。

据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）援引金融服务公司洲际交易所（Intercontinental Exchange）的数据显示，截至10月中旬，美国100个最大市场中，有99个市场的公寓销售价格落后于独栋住宅价格。全美范围内，独栋住宅价格较上年同期上涨1.5%，而公寓价格则下跌1.1%。

布尔本住在西雅图，该市公寓价格跌幅在100个市场中最大：据洲际交易所的数据显示，过去一年西雅图公寓价格下跌了近7%。超过四分之一的市场，公寓价格较上年同期至少下跌了3%。

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“在市场疲软的情况下，公寓往往表现不佳，因为它们通常是购房的入门选择，需求会首先对更高的利率和价格做出反应，而且在建筑业蓬勃发展的地区，新的公寓供应可以迅速增加，”洲际交易所抵押贷款和住房市场研究主管安迪·沃尔登表示。

失明的布尔本表示，他目前只会考虑购买公寓，因为有邻居和配套设施让他觉得比独自住在独栋住宅里更安全。但他同时也意识到，现在买房可能存在经济风险。

“如果我买公寓，我就是在赌它不会跌太多，”布尔本谈到公寓价格时说。“我不知道这算不算稳妥的赌注。”

2021 年佛罗里达州瑟夫赛德一栋大楼倒塌，造成 98 人死亡，此后美国公寓市场的清算愈演愈烈。

调查显示，这座老旧建筑需要进行大规模维修，但缺乏足够的储备资金来支付维修费用。

佛罗里达州实施了新的安全法规，导致公寓业主需要缴纳额外的强制性费用，即特别评估费。这影响了全州的公寓价格和库存。

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“佛罗里达州的公寓市场确实遇到了麻烦，而且这种情况已经持续一段时间了，”南佛罗里达州的房地产经纪人莎伦·罗斯说道。“业主委员会原本并不想重视安全法规，但现在突然之间，他们都不得不遵守了。”

购买公寓与购买独栋住宅有着本质的区别。独栋住宅的业主通常拥有房屋及其地块的所有权。而公寓的业主则拥有一个独立的单元，并与其他业主共同享有公共区域（例如走廊、电梯和配套设施）的使用权。这种区别也体现在维修费用的分摊上。独栋住宅的业主通常负责自己房屋的维修，而公寓业主则通过业主协会（HOA）分摊公共区域的维护费用。

房利美和房地美的新规将于2027年1月生效，该规定要求公寓业主协会为其楼宇预留更多储备金，以便新购房者能够获得房利美和房地美担保的抵押贷款。此举旨在确保业主协会有更多资金用于重大维修和维护。

但这些变化也可能迫使业主协会提高月费，增加公寓持有成本。这尤其可能对那些历来物业费较低的楼宇造成影响。

“要求一定水平的保险和更高的储备金实际上增加了拥有公寓的成本——但同时也增加了现有业主的成本，”密苏里大学法学教授安德里亚·博亚克说道，她曾研究过公寓的法律结构。

高抵押贷款利率加剧了“K型”房地产市场格局的恶化。

“现在人们的口袋已经很空了。房价已经完全失控，而且我们还要提高房价。我不确定有些人能不能拿出这笔钱，”博亚克补充道。

美国多个城市的房地产经纪人表示，许多面临巨额维修费用或更高物业管理费的公寓业主，即使无法从出售中获利，也会有动力出售自己的公寓。

“作为公寓业主，谁也受不了物业费翻倍甚至三倍。大家都不喜欢这样，”洛杉矶房地产经纪人布罗克·哈里斯说道。这座城市拥有许多老旧的公寓楼；其中很多最终都需要进行结构维修。

哈里斯补充说：“当特别评估费到期时，大楼会要求业主支付 25,000 美元、30,000 美元，否则他们将取消抵押品赎回权。”

布尔本正在西雅图寻找公寓，他希望找到一套价格在30万至40万美元之间的一居室单元，并希望父母能资助他购房。他说，他看到的一些物业管理费“高得惊人”，但他认为拥有公寓既有利也有弊。

“如果你拥有土地，那当然最好。但买公寓的话，你会受到很多因素的影响：楼房本身的质量、城市的住房法规以及城市的整体经济状况，”布尔本说。“但同时，如果我将来需要搬家，公寓可能比房子更容易出租。”