During the last two years, the attitude of builders has been, if you build it, they will come, and for the most part they ve been right. But competition has become fierce, and buyers have become quite sophisticated. These factors combined with a rapidly expanding loft resale market and a gradual slowdown in overall sales will surface some slow selling projects during 1999. Soft lofts in which ceilings and walls have been covered with drywall and bedrooms are fully separated will remain hot in 99. The level of finishes and amenities in loft developments continues to be raised.
Lofty layouts are hot in new construction, where the influence of loft style has been remarkable.
It s an oddly postmodern exercise to build new housing to look like old factories, but buyers are hooked on loft living. Higher ceilings, open floor plans, large windows and in some cases even exposed ductwork and ceilings are hot in new construction. Condo conversions have been notably scarce during the current boom, largely because the rental market has performed so well. During the conversion spate of five or six years ago, landlords went condo as an exit strategy to escape high vacancies and red ink. The coming passel of conversions is motivated instead by high potential profits for builders.