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‘Reversion’ of Units Rented Out in Downturn Is Fresh Sign of Housing Market’s Strength
By Conor Dougherty
Many condominium developers who rode out the real-estate downturn by renting out their units are reverting to for-sale housing, in another sign of the market’s continued recovery over the past year.
Take Amir Haber, a Los Angeles developer who opened his Universal Lofts project at precisely the wrong moment in late 2008, when the stock market was in free fall and home prices were declining at a double-digit pace. Instead of selling off the project’s 67 lofts that range from 2,000 to 2,500 square feet and sit across the highway from Universal Studios, Mr. Haber converted them into high-end rentals that range from about $3,800 to $5,500 a month.
Miami, above, is a market where developers are satisfying demand with new condominiums or ‘reversions’ from…