Clayton Real Estate Sales Rise for Single-Family Homes, Condos

Real estate trends in received attention Tuesday night during a meeting of the city's Board of Aldermen.

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Economic developer Gary Carter gave a presentation on the issue during the board's discussion session. A copy of the slides is attached to this article. Among the highlights:

• The average listing price of a single-family home rose from approximately $756,000 in 2010 to $769,000 last year. The average sale price rose from $662,000 to $680,000.

• Single-family home sales rose for the second straight year. Sales of those properties went from 55 in 2009 to 81 in 2010 and 112 last year. Days on the market rose slightly, from 101 in 2010 to 106 last year.

• The average listing price of a condominium rose sharply, from approximately $465,000 in 2010 to $643,000 last year. The same proved true for sale prices, which rose from roughly $387,000 in 2010 to $542,000 last year.

• Condo sales rose to 104 last year, up from 93 in 2010. As with single-family houses, days on the market rose. For condos, that figure grew from 184 days in 2010 to 196 last year.

"The good news there is that prices and sales activity is starting to rebound," said Carter, referencing single-family home data.

Condos appear to be rebounding even quicker than single-family homes, he said.

Carter said it appears commercial rental rates at are pulling up those rates throughout the city.

Ward 2 Alderman Michelle Harris asked whether Carter knows the percentage of occupied condos in the city.

"I can tell you that buildings like , and all have switched over to condo association rules, meaning that the developer is out of it," Carter said. Those changes and others mean the city doesn't have information on such vacancies.

The fact that the city collects roughly $75 million in commercial and residential permit fees each year represents a significant investment in the community, City Manager Craig Owens said.

"That's happening pretty consistently every single year," Owens said.

Read more about other action taken by the board in future Patch articles.