St. Pete’s luxury condo market faces a new reality

Downtown St. Petersburg had nearly 16% more homes for sale in September than a year earlier, with properties spending 27% longer on the market.

Homes spent a median of 118 days listed for sale, according to Realtor.com. The neighborhood had 188 active listings, and properties sold for roughly 3% below asking price on average.

The figures cover all types of downtown housing, but the changing market is also being felt at two of the city’s newest luxury condominium towers.

The 46-story Residences at 400 Central and 42-story Art House brought a combined 545 condos downtown, with both buildings welcoming their first buyers in late 2025.

Most have sold. At Art House, just nine of its 244 residences remain available directly from developer Kolter Urban, according to Dave Moyer, a real estate executive with Smith & Associates, which represents the project.

Andrew Warren, a real estate agent who previously worked in sales at 400 Central, said he understands that approximately 85% of its 301 residences have sold through the developer.

Many buyers signed contracts years ago, before construction was completed. Those sales are only now closing, meaning the latest transactions don’t necessarily reflect current demand.

The Catalyst reported in February 2022 that Red Apple Real Estate had already secured more than $150 million in condominium reservations at 400 Central during its first 90 days of sales. Kolter Urban was also launching sales for Art House at the time.

Meanwhile, developers are competing with individual owners who have already put their condos back on the market.

When Warren spoke with the Catalyst, 15 residences at 400 Central and 13 at Art House were listed for resale, separate from the units still available through the developers.

Warren said the competition has given buyers more leverage, particularly for condos priced between $1 million and $3 million.

At 400 Central, a three-bedroom developer-owned condo sold Oct. 26 for $1,615,000, $90,000 below its asking price.

Warren said developers are increasingly willing to negotiate prices and offer closing credits or other incentives. Some individually owned condos priced above $1 million have remained listed for six months or longer.

Buyers spending more than $3 million, however, have remained more active, Warren said. Stock market performance often carries more weight in their decisions than mortgage rates.

Both Warren and Moyer said local residents account for a substantial share of purchases in the new towers.

At Art House, Moyer said more than half of buyers intended to make their condos primary residences. Some were upgrading from older downtown buildings, while others were leaving single-family homes in neighborhoods such as Old Northeast and Snell Isle.

Warren described a similar pattern among his clients at 400 Central.

But owning a primary residence doesn’t necessarily mean occupying it year-round.

Warren said the number of residents physically present in downtown’s luxury towers can vary considerably depending on the building and season. Some owners maintain multiple homes, travel extensively or are waiting until retirement to move to St. Petersburg full time.

He said many of his 400 Central buyers planned to live there year-round, while others intended to make the transition in the coming years.

Lei Wedge, a finance professor at the University of South Florida, said the luxury market operates differently from the housing market most residents experience.

Buyers spending several million dollars typically have substantial savings and investments, giving them more flexibility than households struggling with home prices and borrowing costs.

Wedge said the towers generate property tax revenue, even from part time residents, but do little to address the shortage of housing affordable to working- and middle-class households.

Moyer said Art House and 400 Central created an unusual situation, with two major developments reaching completion around the same time and adding 545 residences to the downtown market.

Meanwhile, building the next round of towers has become more difficult.

Rising construction costs, expensive financing and land prices have made it harder for developers to get projects underway.

Will Conroy, president of Backstreets Capital, said in October that his company’s 15-unit Cade Residences near Mirror Lake remained about 40% under contract, roughly unchanged since construction began in April.

Moyer expects fewer large condominium projects to reach completion downtown over the next several years, with the Waldorf Astoria Residences among the next major developments targeting delivery around 2030.

Developers of the planned 50-story tower reported more than $200 million in presales in June.

With fewer major projects expected to finish in the coming years, the market may have time to absorb the remaining inventory at Art House and 400 Central, along with condos their owners are trying to resell.

Warren believes buyers and sellers are gradually adjusting after years of rising prices. Some sellers may need to lower their expectations, while buyers are learning to work with today’s borrowing costs.

“In a year from now, I’m hoping we’re looking at a more normal market,” Warren said.