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Even as the red-hot condominium market cools down, new marketing opportunities abound for developers that can recognize and effectively exploit a growing demographic trend, condo experts told attendees of the annual Real Share commercial real estate conference in Washington, DC, in March. Although the condo lifestyle can appeal to those of all ages, the typical demographic profile is a single person and/or someone without children who desires an urban setting with the convenience of multifamily amenities, but the benefits of homeownership.

Even as the red-hot condominium market cools down, new marketing opportunities abound for developers that can recognize and effectively exploit a growing demographic trend, condo experts told attendees of the annual Real Share commercial real estate conference in Washington, D.C., in March.

While single-family homes remain the preferred choice of the vast majority of homeowners and would-be homeowners alike, a small but solid minority have been turning to condos as their first choice for homeownership-not as a last resort, noted David Mayhood, president of the Mayhood Company, McLean, Virginia.

"A portion of our society has changed its vision of the American dream. It's no longer a single-family home in the suburbs with a quarter-acre [of land]," said Mayhood. "I think throughout the last five years, condos have grown up from being an affordable alternative to very much a lifestyle choice."

Although the condo lifestyle can appeal to those of all ages, the typical demographic profile is a single person and/or someone without children-either an echo boomer (between the ages of 25 and 35) or a baby boomer (55 or older)-who desires an urban setting with the convenience of multifamily amenities, but the benefits of homeownership.

However, Mayhood noted, "urban" does not necessarily have to mean the city center-it can include the adjoining large suburban towns. For example, Bethesda, Maryland, and Tysons Corner, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., enjoy booming urban condo communities.

Dick Knapp, senior vice president of Vienna, Virginia-based KSI Services Inc., agreed. He sees access to public transportation as a key ingredient to the urban/suburban condo lifestyle, which seems best-suited for the vertical high-rise condominiums.

However, the suburban condo market remains a "head-scratcher" as developers struggle to predict what type of suburban condo development would work for a particular area or neighborhood. Such uncertainty, said Knapp, can add to a project's risk.

"If you go out too far . . . [into the suburbs] you are starting to compete with something called the stacked townhouses," said Knapp. "I would say that [for] the closer-in suburbs, there are more, better opportunities."