Editor:
I believe that it is important to the Birmingham condominium market and, specifically, the downtown housing market, as well as the entire real estate community, that the public understand that the recent auction of City Federal is not representative of the current values and image of condominiums in Birmingham.
Although perhaps not on the scale of Atlanta and other large metropolitan areas, Birmingham has firmly embraced the condominium lifestyle since its introduction here in the 1980s.
While the overall real estate market is currently less than spectacular, and the condominium market is following that trend, much of that was the result of the downturn in the national economy and only minimally the result of overly enthusiastic production and pricing. We have seen in recent months that the excess inventory is being absorbed. So we are very optimistic that the housing market, the new home market and the condominium market are all on their way to recovery.
City Federal is a unique property and a landmark in the city of Birmingham. The original introduction of these condominiums was well received and we believe that had the housing downturn not occurred the building would have approached sellout two years ago.
When a landmark building such as this is sold far below replacement cost and far below the comparable values that have been recently achieved in nearby properties, then that can only be an aberration in the market and not a reality.
Margi Ingram
Vice Presidential Sales and Marketing
Daniel Homes/Ingram and Associates LLC