Condo Comps Are Not House Comps: What Changes, and Why It Matters
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Short answer
Three rules change. Same-project sales beat nearby sales — a unit two floors up is a better comp than a similar condo across the street. Floor, stack and exposure create spreads of 20% or more within one building, and none of it appears in a specs table. HOA dues capitalise into price — a $200 monthly difference is not a footnote, it is roughly $30,000–$40,000 of buying power at typical rates. Then check the project itself, because a healthy unit in a troubled association can be unfinanceable.
Most comp advice assumes a detached house on its own lot. Apply it unchanged to a condominium and you will get a defensible-looking number that is wrong, because the three things that drive condo value are invisible in a standard comp grid.
Rule 1 — Same project beats proximity
For a house, distance is a rough proxy for similarity. For a condo it barely matters, because the building is the market.
A unit three floors up in your own building shares your association, dues, amenities, reserve position, rules, management, insurance and reputation. A similar-sized condo across the street shares none of those. The near-identical stranger is the worse comp.
Fannie Mae's condo appraisal requirements make the same point from the other direction: the appraiser must address the location of the unit within the project, the project amenities and the amount and purpose of the association assessment, because "the value and marketability of the individual units in a project depend on the marketability and appeal of the project itself."
Selection order for condo comps:
- Same project, same or similar stack, similar floor
- Same project, different stack or floor — adjusted
- Directly comparable project: similar age, amenities, dues, size
- Any nearby condo — last resort, and explain it
Rule 2 — Floor, stack and exposure
Two units with identical square footage, bed count and finishes can differ by a fifth or more in the same building. None of the reasons appear in a specs table.
- Floor level. In a view building, higher floors carry a premium per floor. In a walk-up without a lift, the relationship inverts and upper floors discount.
- Stack and exposure. The same layout facing a park and facing a service alley are different products. Light matters — a north-facing unit in a dense city can be materially darker year-round.
- Corner units usually carry a premium for extra windows on two elevations.
- Noise position. Above the loading bay, beside the lift shaft, over the pool deck, facing the road.
- Outdoor space. A balcony versus none is a real difference; a terrace is a large one.
- Parking. Deeded space, assigned space, or none — in dense markets this can be a five-figure difference on its own.
- Storage, which in small units carries more weight than it looks like it should.
The practical implication: a unit number is not enough. You need to know where in the building each comp sat. This is also why address-only lookup struggles with condos — fifty units share one street address, and a tool that resolves the building but not the unit has answered a different question.
Rule 3 — HOA dues capitalise into price
Dues are not a footnote. They are a recurring cost the buyer carries alongside the mortgage, and lenders count them in the debt-to-income calculation, which means they directly limit what a buyer can borrow.
As rough arithmetic: an extra $200 a month in dues consumes something in the region of $30,000–$40,000 of borrowing capacity at typical mortgage rates. Two units at the same list price with dues $200 apart are not comparably priced — they are meaningfully different total costs, and the market prices that difference in.
So when comparing across projects, normalise. Ask what the dues cover, too: a project whose fee includes water, heat and insurance is not more expensive than one that excludes them, it is differently structured. Comparing headline dues without checking inclusions repeats the same mistake as comparing rents without checking what is included.
The project-level checks nobody does
These can matter more than anything about the unit, because they determine whether a buyer can get a loan at all.
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Reserve funding | Underfunded reserves mean future special assessments. Fannie Mae's expectation rises from 10% to 15% of annual budgeted assessments for applications dated on or after 4 Jan 2027. |
| Delinquency rate | Fannie Mae treats a project as ineligible where more than 15% of units are 60+ days past due on assessments. |
| Owner-occupancy share | High investor concentration restricts financing options and narrows the buyer pool. |
| Pending litigation | Can make a project unwarrantable, cutting off conventional financing entirely. |
| Pending special assessment | A known assessment discounts sale prices, often by close to its own amount. |
| Commercial space share | Above certain thresholds, affects eligibility. |
| Deferred maintenance | Facade, roof, lifts, plumbing risers — tomorrow's assessment. |
A pristine unit in a project with failed reserves and open litigation can be effectively unsaleable to any buyer needing a conventional loan. No amount of comp selection fixes that, and a comp set drawn from before the litigation was filed will read as reassuring and be wrong.
Where price per square foot behaves differently
Condo price per square foot is more useful than house price per square foot, because units in a project share land, amenities and construction. It is still not linear: small units almost always carry a higher per-foot price than large ones in the same building, since the fixed value of kitchen, bathroom and entry is spread over fewer feet.
So use per-square-foot within a tight size band. Do not extrapolate from a 700 sq ft studio to a 1,900 sq ft three-bedroom in the same tower — see why the metric misleads.
New construction and conversions
New projects have a specific problem: no closed sales in the building yet. Fannie Mae addresses it directly — for new subdivisions or condo projects, two pending sales in the subject project may be used in lieu of one settled sale, alongside at least three settled comparables from outside the project.
For conversions, treat the pre-conversion sale history with care. The same physical unit as a rental apartment and as a sold condo are different products with different buyers.
A working checklist
- Confirm you have the right unit, not just the building.
- Pull same-project sales from the last 6–12 months first.
- Record floor, stack, exposure, outdoor space, parking and storage for each.
- Normalise dues across projects, and check what they include.
- Check reserves, delinquency, owner-occupancy and litigation.
- Ask whether any comp sold under a pending special assessment.
- Keep the per-square-foot comparison inside a tight size band.
- Only then reach outside the project — and say why.
The bottom line
Condo comps invert the usual priority: the building matters more than the neighbourhood, and the unit's position in the building matters more than its distance from anything.
Prefer same-project sales, adjust for floor and exposure explicitly, normalise dues, and check the association's health before trusting any of it. A specs table showing two 1,100 sq ft two-bedroom units in one tower can be hiding a 20% spread and a financing problem, and neither is visible in the row.
Frequently asked questions
Should condo comps be in the same building?
Where possible, yes. Units in the same project share the association, the amenities, the dues, the rules and the reserve position, which removes most of the largest variables at once. Appraisal practice for condos gives weight to same-project sales, and where none exist the appraiser must reach outside and explain the comparison at the project level as well as the unit level.
How much does floor level affect condo value?
It varies by building and can be substantial. In a high-rise with views, higher floors typically command a premium per floor, and the spread between a low-floor unit facing a car park and a high-floor unit with a view can exceed 20% for otherwise identical layouts. In a three-storey walk-up without a lift, the relationship can invert, with upper floors discounted.
Do HOA fees affect a condo's value?
Yes, directly. Dues are a recurring cost a buyer must carry alongside the mortgage, so a higher fee reduces the price that buyer can pay. As a rough guide, $200 a month of additional dues consumes roughly $30,000 to $40,000 of borrowing capacity at typical mortgage rates. Comparing two units without normalising for dues compares two different total costs.
What is a special assessment and how does it affect comps?
A one-off charge levied on owners for a major expense the reserve cannot cover — a roof, a facade, a lift replacement. A unit sold with a known pending assessment usually sells below one without, and the discount can approach the assessment amount. If a comp sold during a pending assessment period and yours did not, that price needs adjusting.
Why is my condo hard to appraise or finance?
Usually a project-level issue rather than a unit-level one. Lenders assess the association as well as the unit — reserve funding, delinquency rates, owner-occupancy share, litigation and commercial space proportion all matter. Fannie Mae, for example, treats a project as ineligible where more than 15% of units are 60 or more days past due on association fees, and has raised its reserve-funding expectation from 10% to 15% of annual budgeted assessment income for applications dated on or after 4 January 2027.
Sources
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.4-03, "Condo Appraisal Requirements" — appraiser analysis must address the location of the individual unit within the project, the project amenities, and the amount and purpose of the owners' association assessment; the value and marketability of individual units depend on the marketability and appeal of the project itself.
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-08, "Comparable Sales" (effective 06/04/2025) — minimum three closed comparables; for new condo projects or subdivisions without settled sales, two pending sales in the subject project may be used in lieu of one settled sale, alongside at least three settled comparables from outside the project.
- Fannie Mae project eligibility: projects where more than 15% of units are 60 or more days past due on association assessments are ineligible. The reserve-funding requirement rises from 10% to 15% of total annual budgeted assessment income, taking full effect for loan applications dated on or after 4 January 2027.
- Floor premiums, stack effects and the price impact of dues vary widely by building and market. The 20%-plus intra-building spread and the $30,000–$40,000 borrowing-capacity figure are illustrative estimates based on typical mortgage arithmetic, not measured market data — verify against your own market before relying on them.