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Originally Posted by sharkfood
Well, there are probably six dozen single-family home developments underway in Chester, Bucks, and other outlying counties. I've never heard anyone question whether there is enough demand to fill these developments. The Philadelphia Metropolitan Area has a population of over 6,000,000. With changing demographics and smaller families, more people prefer condominium living. Yet there are very few non-townhouse style condominiums being developed outside of Center City. There's Manayunk, Conshohocken, and maybe a few developments on the Main Line, but nothing on the scale that is being witnessed in many New Jersey communities (e.g. New Brunswick) or in towns outside Boston (e.g. Arlington) to pick two examples. I am actually wondering exactly the opposite. Is the Philadelphia area building enough condominiums to meet the demand for this style of living? Or is it still overbuilding single family homes? Look at the census of U.S. housing construction. Surrounding states are building a higher percentage of multifamily structures than Pennsylvania.
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Another big part of the 'condo boom' is not just the 'empty nester' scenario; it is also the fact that ;and is just too damn expensive these days to make new townhome construction in the Center City/Surrounding neighborhoods economically viable; especially when some of these 1,200 ft. condos are being sold for the same price as a 2,500 sq ft home.
Part of the reason we do not have (hard to believe but true) as many multi-family buildings as other large cities is that we are one of the most residential downtowns in the country.
08-05-2005, 02:58 PM
