When you buy a downtown Austin condo, you are really buying part of a building. The services, staff, amenities, maintenance, location, style, community and construction quality are more important than the particulars of any individual unit. That's why our listings are organized by building -- research shows that buyers first choose a building and then pick a unit. When it comes to urban Austin condos, the building is the product.

Not surprisingly, price per square foot varies widely for downtown Austin condo buildings. With values ranging from $197/SF at Greenwood Towers to $472/SF at the 5 Fifty Five Condos atop the Hilton, the data clearly shows that the building is the most important determinant of condo values. So, when you buy a condo unit, remember that the building will be the most important determinant of investment return.

Here are the details on actual building-by-building MLS sales over the last 14 months:

Downtown Condo Transactions: 1/1/2008 to 2/28/2009

Building	Year	# Sales	$/SF	Avg SF
Five Fifty 05	2004	6	$473	1430
Nokonah	2001	7	$442	1414
Brazos Place	2008	12	$370	927
360	2008	4	$368	775
Austin City Lofts	2003	11	$353	1718
Milago	2006	26	$344	1047
Westgate	1965	4	$325	699
Sabine	2007	5	$312	1287
Railyard	1983	8	$296	892
Plaza Lofts	2002	3	$291	1190
Posada Del Rey	1964	5	$282	1015
Avenue Lofts	1999	2	$279	1095
Penthouse	1973	5	$254	728
Cambridge Condos	1964	11	$254	1456
Brown Building	2000	6	$250	848
Villas on Town Lake	1982	5	$241	1080
Towers Town Lake	1983	8	$228	1467
Greenwood Towers	1966	5	$197	667

As usual, these values exclude private transactions for units not listed on MLS. For example, hundreds of original transactions in 360 conducted by first time buyers purchasing from the sales center are not included. All resale and new transactions listed on MLS should be included.

Tags: market analysis