Arizona Apartments turned into condos now a tough sell

The Arizona Republic reports:

Developers are delaying or dumping plans to convert some Phoenix-area apartment complexes into condominiums.

A year after they pulled more than 7,000 apartments off the market, condo converters are finding that buyers in many areas are not interested in paying top dollar for a refurbished rental unit, particularly now that the Valley's housing market is slowing and prices for single-family homes are beginning to drop.

"The condo-conversion market is not the frenzy it was a year ago," said Pete TeKampe, an apartment specialist at Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate brokerage. "It is rapidly decelerating."


Apartment experts say some developers got carried away in conversion mania, overpaid for buildings and now must run them as rentals rather than selling fast and getting out.

Square footage is square footage.This is a sign of the top of the condo market for right now in Arizona.