UPDATE: Downtown Condo at The Mills #522

I'm updating a prior post on a unit at the Mills. The price has actually been increased on 2/22/2007 from $469,000-$499,900 to $479,000-$509,000 which is interesting as I don't think any of the loft units at the Mills have ever been resold and a number have been for sale for quite a long time.

The previous post is below with everything the same except the numbers have been updated.

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The Mills is an apartment conversion on Cortez Hill. The lofts units are probably the most over-priced real estate downtown so this price cut to a large loss comes as no surprise.

Type: Listed on MLS(#066083981)

List Price: $494,000
(Range priced $509,000 to $479,000)
Cost: $557,900
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $93,540
Loss%: 16.77%

Purchase Date: 03/29/2005
Holding Period: 23 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square Feet: 953

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at Park Blvd East #305

Park Boulevard East is located in the East Village.

This is a pretty standard unit for the building. It's very notable that the list price is less than the developer price at the first and only sale listed. As ICON, Park Terrace and Smart Corner continue to roll out this year the supply in that direct neighborhood will be very interesting.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076001768)

List Price: $464,000
(Range priced $459,000 to $469,000)
Cost: $491,824
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $55,664
Loss%: 11.32%

Purchase Date: 06/21/2005
Holding Period: 20 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1034

Purchase Details: view

ICON Sales Update

ICON is a multiple building development very close to Petco Park, construction is almost complete and people are moving into the complex now.

While this forum post can't be verified the size of their marketing effort and the current state of the housing market make these reasonable numbers.

327 Units Total
250 Approximately under contract
125 Closed Escrows
77 Unsold Units

My sense is that of the 125 contracted but unclosed escrows that a number of those will fail to close as well so let's figure that in within a month or so as the building is completely finished that 85-90 completed and unsold condos are entering the downtown market. That's about a 15% increase in supply relative to the current number of resale condos downtown.

Downtown Condo at The Grande #108

This townhouse at The Grande is selling below its last sale price in the Spring of 2005.

The Grande is located in the Columbia District which is set to go through a significant change with a number of new projects coming including Electra, the Navy Broadway complex, Bayside at the Embarcadero. This is probably not enough to put a floor on the price declines but it will make things more attractive.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076008703)

List Price: $888,000

Cost: $930,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $95,280
Loss%: 10.25%

Purchase Date: 06/30/2005
Holding Period: 20 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 3
Square Feet: 1890

Purchase Details: view

Mission Valley Condo at Mission Heights #103

This Mission Valley condo is an example of a major value reduction from its last sale in 2004. The sales history shows a sale in June of 2003 for more than the low end of this range priced listing. It's quite expected for a basic condominium like this one to depreciate fairly quickly as the rent versus buy analysis is very easy to apply to a small one bedroom condominium in a non-premium location.

Thanks to Chris for pointing this property out via email

Type: Listed on MLS(#076003679)

List Price: $182,938
(Range priced $150,000 to $215,876)
Cost: $258,500
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $86,538
Loss%: 33.48%

Purchase Date: 08/03/2004
Holding Period: 30 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square Feet: 667

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at Cityfront Terrace #409

Cityfront Terrace is a mid-rise development in the Marina District.

This specific unit is listed below its last sales price from the fall of 2004. At this point we are seeing a lot of 2004 properties selling for a loss so it's probably safe to say there has been no appreciation in almost three years.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076014058)

List Price: $549,900

Cost: $585,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $68,094
Loss%: 11.64%

Purchase Date: 09/20/2004
Holding Period: 29 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1104

Purchase Details: view

Massive Loss on Downtown Condo at Park Boulevard West #2402

Park Boulevard West is a nondescript low rise in the East Village fairly close to Petco Park.

This unit last sold for $575,000 in the fall of 2004. The unit has a large list price range which likely indicates they won't be selling it for $400,000 but they are trying to get some attention. The loss calculation as usual is based on an average of the range pricing. All this said there really isn't anything compelling about this development or particular unit so about the only way to make it interesting is via price.

Type: Listed on MLS(#072013503)

List Price: $435,438
(Range priced $400,000 to $470,876)
Cost: $575,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $165,688
Loss%: 28.82%

Purchase Date: 09/30/2004
Holding Period: 29 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1117

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at Acqua Vista #1352

Acqua Vista is a twin tower midrise in Little Italy. It was developed to be rental apartments and was converted into condominiums before the building was completed. This building was one of the first buildings downtown to start showing signs the housing market was cooling off.

This specific unit is selling for less than the developer price that it last changed hands at back in the summer of 2004. At this stage I suspect that every unit in the building is worth less than the developer price paid.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076012885)

List Price: $349,900

Cost: $375,313
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $46,407
Loss%: 12.36%

Purchase Date: 08/19/2004
Holding Period: 30 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Square Feet: 655

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at Village Walk #305

Village Walk is located in the heart of Little Italy on India Street. We've seen a number of units there list for sale for less than last purchase price. The last time this unit changed hands was back in the summer of 2004.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076010001)

List Price: $629,000

Cost: $675,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $83,740
Loss%: 12.41%

Purchase Date: 08/24/2004
Holding Period: 30 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Square Feet: 1260

Purchase Details: view

Bankers Hill Condo at Century Plaza Towers #6A

This large condominium last changed hands in early 2004 for substantially less than today's list price.

Based on the MLS pictures there appears to be a recent upgrade as well. Finally the sales history at sdlookup.com is especially interesting. I think this illustrates very well the market value fluctuation of this particular property over the last several years.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076012363)

List Price: $502,000
(Range priced $475,000 to $529,000)
Cost: $610,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $138,120
Loss%: 22.64%

Purchase Date: 05/14/2004
Holding Period: 33 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1470

Purchase Details: view

Rate of Condominium Conversions, Sales Continue Downward Spiral

The San Diego Business Journal reports on condominium conversions in San Diego. No major surprises here and I agree completely with the forecast for more problems.

San Diego Business Journal Online article

UTC/La Jolla Condo at Verano #2014

Verano is one of the many apartment conversion condominiums in the UTC area. There are still developer units available at Verano.

Type: Listed on MLS(#071011186)

List Price: $442,999
(Range priced $415,999 to $469,999)
Cost: $490,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $73,581
Loss%: 15.02%

Purchase Date: 09/21/2005
Holding Period: 17 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1037

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at El Cortez #506

The El Cortez is located on the top of Cortez Hill. It started as a hotel, turned into apartments about six years ago and then was converted to condominums near the very top of the market.

In my view this unit is still overpriced.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076010236)

List Price: $500,000

Cost: $520,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $50,000
Loss%: 9.62%

Purchase Date: 10/28/2004
Holding Period: 28 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1120

Purchase Details: view

Another Downtown Condo at Lofts at 777 6th Avenue #419

Here's another unit at the Lofts at 777 6th Avenue.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076010280)

List Price: $669,000
(Range priced $649,000 to $689,000)
Cost: $731,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $102,140
Loss%: 13.97%

Purchase Date: 10/04/2006
Holding Period: 4 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1119

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at doma #302

doma is a Citimark building in Little Italy, I would consider it a very high quality building.

Type: Listed on MLS(#070009335)

List Price: $529,900

Cost: $565,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $66,894
Loss%: 11.84%

Purchase Date: 07/09/2004
Holding Period: 31 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 960

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at Discovery #104

Discovery is located on Cortez Hill and was built by Bosa Development in the earlier stages of the big development boom downtown.

This unit is interesting as I do recall when it was last sold, it was a relative bargain at the time and I also believe that it was listed for rent so this was probably an investment at the time.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076008970)

List Price: $587,938
(Range priced $575,000 to $600,876)
Cost: $605,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $52,338
Loss%: 8.65%

Purchase Date: 01/11/2006
Holding Period: 13 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Square Feet: 1430

Purchase Details: view

$100K+ Loss on Downtown Condo at Treo #2300

Treo is a mid-level quality high rise condo in the Columbia District.

This unit last changed hands in almost three years ago in June 2004.

Type: Listed on MLS(#060094421)

List Price: $848,000

Cost: $899,000
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $101,880
Loss%: 11.33%

Purchase Date: 06/28/2004
Holding Period: 32 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Square Feet: 1337

Purchase Details: view

Downtown Condo at Fahrenheit #401

Fahrenheit is in the ballpark district and is a CitiMark building. It's unique as the building wraps a parking garage. This gives the impression that there are a lot more units than there actually are.

This unit is interesting as it's selling below developer price, albeit this unit was probably sold in a later phase in the sales process.

Type: Listed on MLS(#076009690)

List Price: $679,500

Cost: $723,952
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $85,222
Loss%: 11.77%

Purchase Date: 03/27/2006
Holding Period: 11 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1317

Purchase Details: view

Hillcrest Condo at The Egyptian #409

The Egyptian is a recent condominium community located in Hillcrest on the border with North Park in the old Egyptian theater.

This is the second Egyptian condominium to make this list as unit #410 is also listed at a loss. This development was built by Citimark which puts out an excellent product so this loss is pretty much market forces driven.

Type: Listed on MLS(#066095991)

List Price: $559,000
(Range priced $549,000 to $569,000)
Cost: $617,539
Loss@6% Sales Expenses: $92,079
Loss%: 14.91%

Purchase Date: 07/19/2005
Holding Period: 19 months and counting...

Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet: 1431

Purchase Details: view