Condos and co-ops sold for a median $363,700 in September, the National Association of Realtors reported October 13, up 1.2% from a year earlier. Single-family homes sold for a median $422,700, also up 1.2%, so a condo buyer paid about $59,000 less at the midpoint. The spread matters most to owners weighing a smaller place against a house.
How the condo and house medians compare
The condo and co-op figure comes from NAR’s September existing-home sales report. A median is the midpoint: half of condo and co-op sales closed above $363,700 and half closed below it. Condos and single-family homes rose by the same 1.2%, so the two price levels moved in step.
The blended median for all housing types, which folds houses, condos and co-ops together, was $417,500, up 1.3%. It landed between the two property-type numbers. Sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million, and NAR counted 1.60 million homes for sale at the end of the month.
The buyer most exposed to these numbers is a homeowner selling a house to buy a condo. At the September medians, a house sale near $422,700 and a condo purchase near $363,700 would free up roughly $59,000 before closing costs. Medians describe the whole market, though, and a single town can sit far from them.
Put as a percentage, the condo and co-op median sits about 14% below the single-family median and about 13% below the all-types figure. That is simple arithmetic on NAR’s published numbers. The release does not report a condo-only sales count or a condo-only change in days on market.
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NAR builds the figures from a monthly sample of 160 boards and multiple listing services, which it says covers about 40% of existing-home transactions. The counts are weighted to represent sales in each region. Its guide to the series says the data cover existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops.
NAR also warns against reading too much into a national condo number. Condos are concentrated in higher-cost markets, it says, so the national condo median can run above the single-family median. Within one area, single-family homes usually sell for more. A condo median is only as useful as the market it was measured in.
Regional medians show how wide the spread runs under the national figures. The Northeast median for all housing types was $523,600, the Midwest $329,600, the South $361,000 and the West $613,600. The condo median of $363,700 is close to the South’s all-types figure and about $250,000 below the West’s.
A slower market with more leverage for buyers
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said August and September were the two slowest months for home sales this year. Homes took a median 33 days to sell in September, up from 31 days in August. Months of supply stood at 4.8, up from 4.5 a year earlier.
Yun said higher inventory and longer days on market give buyers more negotiating power, an edge that was thinner a year ago, when supply stood at 4.5 months. He advised sellers to price realistically for local conditions, which he said could require discounts and incentives. For a condo owner trying to sell, that means asking prices set last spring may not hold.
Mortgage rates pushed the other way. Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.86% in September, NAR reported, up from 6.67% in August and 6.35% a year earlier. Yun put the effect plainly: “Further increases in mortgage rates in recent weeks mean fewer buyers can qualify to purchase a home.” A buyer needs a smaller loan, a bigger down payment or a cheaper property to clear the same lender test, and condos sit at the cheaper end.
First-time buyers made up 31% of September sales, up from 30% a year earlier. Cash buyers were 27%, down from 30%. Individual investors and second-home buyers took 20%, up from 15% in August. NAR’s release does not split these shares by property type, so the condo-specific mix is not published.
Inventory reached 1.60 million units, up 1.9% from August and 4.6% from September 2025, while sales fell 2.2% from a year earlier. Distressed sales, meaning foreclosures and short sales, were 2% of transactions, unchanged from August and a year ago. Forced sales are not what is moving the medians, and investor and second-home buyers, at 20% of sales, are a bigger presence than distressed sellers.
What the sale price leaves out
The medians cover sale price and nothing else, which is why a condo that looks cheaper on paper needs a closer look at the monthly cost. NAR’s release does not include association dues, special assessments, property taxes or insurance, all of which vary by building and state and shape what a condo costs each month compared with a house.
The next report, covering October, is scheduled for November 12. It will show whether the condo median keeps pace with its 1.2% annual gain or begins to slip as selling times lengthen. For anyone choosing between a house and a condo, that is the next number to watch.
Downsizing to a condo? Which costs follow the move
A move from a house to a condo changes more than the price. It can change a property-tax bill, a heating or cooling cost and the programs a household applies for, and several of those programs are opt-in, so a missed application means no benefit.
That is a different question from what a condo sells for, and the related job The Benefits Checklist finishes. It scans 11 benefit programs retirees most often miss, including property-tax breaks and heating help, and carries the 2026 income limits and a 50-state phone directory.
Scan 11 household-cost programs and their 2026 income limits in the Benefits Checklist →
More Financial Reading
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- 17 Medicare Money Moves Now That Part D Caps at $2,400
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
