Townhouses are becoming trickier to sell in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Homes.com data and real estate agents have found.
Sales of all home types decreased by 34.7% in September compared to last year, according to Homes.com. However, townhomes saw slower growth despite significant increases in August.
The 6100 Grand is a new development located at 6119 NW Grand Boulevard in Oklahoma City, featuring 16 luxury townhouses that start at around $1 million.
David Oliver, with Sage Sotheby’s International in Oklahoma City, is the listing agent for 6100 Grand.
He said the townhouse market runs "hot and cold" in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
“We have seen a slowdown as prices have elevated, especially in our market over the million-dollar mark,” he said.
He explained that it’s a combination of interest rates and construction costs, but also noted that these home types aren’t as popular in Oklahoma.
He said the lower-priced listings are now in the $400,000 range, but just two years ago, similar properties were selling for $100,000 more.
He added that Multiple Listing Service data shows there are 231 condos and townhouses for sale in the metropolitan area, ranging from $40,000 to $3.7 million. Fourteen of those are listed above $1 million, but many have been relisted, which makes the average days on market appear shorter than they actually are. For properties over $1 million, the average time on market is 148 days.
Since Jan. 1, he said, only three townhouses over $1 million have sold across the entire metro area. In the $600,000 to $999,000 range, ten townhouses have sold, but most closed well below their asking prices — some by tens of thousands of dollars.
Oliver said that these price reductions are due to an imbalance between supply and demand, as there are more sellers than buyers, especially in the townhouse segment.
Buyers will spend more on single-family houses
Buyers are hesitant to pay high prices, like $700,000, for a condo or townhome, according to Oliver. “There’s a whole lot more people who will spend $700,000 for a house."
He explained that townhouses are more common in larger markets, such as Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Denver.
“In our market, it's a lot harder to sell some of this stuff when the primary bedroom is on the second floor versus the first floor," he said.
Townhouses reside in urban core
He said townhouses are more common in the urban core areas such as Midtown and Bricktown.
Oliver said the 6100 Grand is in an area not commonly known for townhouses.
Oliver isn’t sure about the future, but he believes that if interest rates decline, it could improve the market.
“It's that psychological barrier that we've been up against,” he said.