September 14, 2006
Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast at USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate, said that it is too early to tell if the flipping of condominiums to apartments and failed deals is a trend for Downtown. Her research has shown that the occupancy of apartments built after 2003 fell to 83% earlier this year, but then quickly rose to 97%. "There is a lot of new supply coming into Downtown both in condos and in new apartments," Conway said. "As long as the demand stays healthy, the market should continue to stay healthy. Inventory levels are up, so demand is definitely slowing. But it's more like we are returning to normal levels."