Empty nesters keep condo market steady in weak selling environment - Business First of Columbus:

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Gutches, who lives in has decided to puther 3,588-square-foot home on the markef so she can move into somethint smaller. "I don't believe in an empty nested syndrome," said Gutches. "I just think it'ds natural that once you've had your family, you want to move to a smallere house." At this time in her the 58-year-old Gutches is looking forward to livingf in a condominium which will mean less home maintenancer andmore travel. Gutches knows the real estate market is weakfor sellers, but she is determined to forge ahead.
She isn't Despite the housing slump, enthusiasm for downsizing amon g Central Ohio emptynesterws continues, say real estate industry experts. Whilre home sales in the region have been declininh dramatically since2005 - by 4.5 percent in 6.9 percent in 2007 and 12.3 percent througg April 2008, according to the - condo salee in the region have remaineed steady. More than 3,200 condominiums sold annuall y from 2004 to 2007 in Central Sales of condominiums in 2008 are off pace fromlast year'ds levels, but still above pre-housing boom levels, said Bressler, spokeswoman for the Columbus Board of Realtors.
Condo sales in the firsgt five months of 2008 reached comparedto 1,408 condos sold duringy the same period in 2007. By 1,006 condos sold in the first five monthsdof 2003. "It's surprising, because you've always heard that the firs t thing thatturns (sour) is condos," said Neil J. Rogers, vice presidenft of , a Lewiw Center-based home and condominiukm builder. "But for the people that are buying our patiok homesand condominiums, selling their housexs to make it work isn't always a requirement." A pati home is a stand-alone condominium unit. Most of Bob Webb' condo clients are empty nesters, Rogers said.
They often will have enough income and savings that they can move forwar d on the construction of a condominiumm or patio home before they sell their primary The average sale price of a home in Centralo Ohiodropped 1.8 percent from 2005 to 2006 and droppes 1.2 percent from 2006 to 2007. Even experiencing thosed declines, empty nesters have not alteref their expectations for thecondominiums they're said Sue Lusk-Gleich, treasurer of the Columbuw Board of Realtors. "Pricesz have settled down, but they haven't droppex locally like they have elsewhere acrosswthe country," said Lusk-Gleich, a real estater agent with .
"And, empth nesters are in a different financia situation than a young professional who is starting Terry Bryant, a real estate agent with , tells his emptyy nester clients that if their home does sell for less than they thought it would, they were probably overvaluing it. "And they're making a savingsz on the condo they're going to buy," Bryant said.