Condo Conversions on the Rise

SAN DIEGO-It seems that condo conversion is the hot new ticket that San Diego’s investment community is clamoring for, as a recent report by Colliers International says the trend has picked up considerable steam this year.

“It is a very substantial phenomenon in the investment market right now, much more so than in the past 20 years,” Jon Busse tells GlobeSt.com. Busse, a Colliers’ senior vice president who prepared the firm’s multifamily report, points to low interest rates as a major catalyst for the recent condo conversion trend. Other contributing factors include the high cost of new construction (as it pertains to both condos and single family homes), as well as the diversified regional and local economy found in San Diego. In addition, many cities here are extremely amenable to condos in general. “It gives them a way of providing more affordable home ownership than what was otherwise the case,” Busse explains.