Condo prices are skyrocketing in Downtown LA

Condo prices are soaring in Downtown Los Angeles, where the median cost of a unit is now $620,000, according to a new report from Douglas Elliman.

That’s a nearly six-digit increase in just 12 months. At the same time last year, the median price was $530,000, the report says.

The report looks at prices in the third quarter, the period from July through September, and finds that average prices are up, too. They jumped more than 4 percent over the previous quarter and soared a whopping 32.1 percent over the year before.

Jonathan Miller, the report’s author, says part of that increase might be explained by the addition of new luxury units (like those in the first Metropolis tower) on the market, driving up average prices.

“Most of the new development is skewed toward higher-end property,” says Miller. “The mix is shifting toward larger or more luxury-style product.”

As prices balloon, there are more fancy units on the way. Construction crews are approaching completion on such enormous condominium developments as Metropolis and Oceanwide Plaza.

By our count, more than 1,000 condo units are now in the works in Downtown’s South Park neighborhood alone.

The Elliman report also found that median condo prices rose significantly during the third quarter of this year, shooting up 5.8 percent since the second quarter and 17 percent over the last year.

The number of condos sold also went up between the third quarter of 2016 (which saw 89 units sell) and the third quarter of 2017 (when 134 sales were recorded).

The difference didn’t necessarily come down to inventory; slightly more units were on the market in the third quarter of 2016 than the same time a year later.

“The pace is blistering,” Miller says.

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