In a housing market that’s slow for almost everyone, condominium owners have been particularly unlucky.
Condo prices tend to cool faster than single-family homes during downturns and lag during recoveries due to their smaller buyer pool. In recent years, the condo market has weakened to levels on par with those following the 2008 financial crisis.
Some affordability-stretched buyers have balked at rising homeowners’ association fees and insurance costs or feared special assessments for deferred maintenance. Others struggle to obtain financing due to strict condo-specific lending rules established by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those challenges sent prices falling 1.7% last year, according to ICE Mortgage Technology. Brokerage Redfin called summer 2025 the strongest buyers’ market for condos since at least 2013, save for a single month at the beginning of pandemic lockdowns.
But now, there are some early signs suggesting the condo market is recovering. In December, sales and price growth for condominiums outpaced comparable gains for single-family homes, according to National Association of Realtors data.
Condos have “been more negatively affected throughout this year with a price decline,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR. “Maybe buyers are seeing that as an opportune chance and getting into the market.”
As with all real estate, condo markets vary widely from location to location. In tight-inventory markets in the Northeast and the Midwest, prices are holding up and, in some cities, setting all-time records. On the other hand, parts of Florida are deep in correction territory, with the hardest-hit cities seeing condo values decline 11% or more last year.
The HOA challenge
Condos face sales challenges that single-family homes don’t. Factors like the age of the building, the health of the homeowners’ association’s finances, and the size of monthly fees are additional concerns that can slow or complicate sales.
Nattalie Cornwall, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based real estate agent, is stuck with a condo she can’t sell. When she first listed the property in 2023 for $239,000, she had several offers within a week. But during negotiations, she discovered her building’s HOA reserves were underfunded, which made buyers ineligible for conventional mortgages. The deals fell through.
She thinks she’d need to cut the price of her unit to $165,000, or even $150,000, to attract a cash buyer or investor. It’s a hit she doesn’t want to take, so for now she’s renting out her unit on Airbnb. Her HOA has a new board and is working to shore up its finances, which she hopes will allow her to relist her unit and attract a broader buyer pool later this year.
“A lot of people gravitate toward the cheaper condos for obvious reasons,” she said. “But usually if it’s too cheap, there’s probably something going on with it.”
