Of the 370 sales listed by the Philadelphia recorder of deeds from Jan. 1 through March 30, 234, or 63 percent, were for units under $400,000.
All but 57 of the condos sold were in Center City or its adjacent neighborhoods. Sales prices of the units elsewhere in the city sold in the $100,000- to-$200,000 range.
Sales in the first quarter of 2010 totaled 322. There were 605 in the second, 526 in third, and 434 in the final three months.
The city condo market remains stable despite the general absence of aging suburban homeowners trading larger houses for the convenience of condos and the amenities of the city.
"These are buyers mostly without homes to sell - mainly first-time buyers and relos [relocations]," said developer Carl Dranoff, speaking of the first-quarter condo buyers.
"When the suburban resale market picks up, many more higher-end buyers will be coming into the marketplace," he said.
Median prices in the suburbs have fallen more than those in Philadelphia, a recent analysis by economist and Econsult Inc. vice president Kevin Gillen show.
Existing-home data from Prudential Fox & Roach HomExpert Report show April sales were much lower than in the same month in 2010 in many suburban counties than in the city.
"On a positive note," Dranoff said, "prices seem to be holding steady."
Gillen said that while Center City condo sales and prices are down from the peak years of mid-decade, the "median prices have consistently hovered around $300,000, for the past year, and the number of transactions still continue to be in the hundreds each quarter despite the challenging economic environment."
But, as difficult as current market conditions are, "I continue to be surprised by how much worse they could be," Gillen said.
