I currently live/own in Lucera right now; purchased a 1 bedroom over 2 years ago – for the high 200’s. Last few that were sold were in the mid to high 300’s. A 2 bedroom here sold just a few weeks ago for 410 I believe it was.
The advantage to Lucera is, it’s not a condo conversion. It was originally built to be condo’s and then rented out. It was then overhauled, and re-sold as a condo unit.
The main advantage? The walls. You don’t hear your neighbors.
The other places mentioned, that are around UTC – total junk. As soon as I saw those going on the market and took a visit, I was laughing at their asking prices. I fully expect them to be full rentals anytime now.
The prices on these units are definitely goign to drop. How much? Who knows. I’d expect probably 20-30% and then a few years of relatively stagnant prices (so slight additional loss due to inflation). Anyone who bought in the last year or two expecting to flip – going to have a big problem.
But, if you purchased a while back as a place to live in for a few years and then turn into a rental or something – I still think this (and some of the other Condos) in the area are a good investment – just let the prices drop first.
Rents are high around here, a 1 bedroom will run $1300/mo and a 2 bedroom starts around $1600.
It’s not the low end of the market that gits hit the hardest, it’s the higher ends. People trying to sell 1.5 million dollar homes, or $800,000 downtown codoes are going to get creamed. Condos in the general UTC area? Yeah, they are goign to take a hit. But I don’t think it’s going to be that big of a deal for the non-flipper in the long run.
