The price of a condo in a building bearing Donald Trump’s name have fallen to prices not seen in over a decade, according to the Associated Press.
The AP review more than 4,000 transactions over the past 15 years in 11 Trump-branded buildings in Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas and New York and found that prices for some condos and hotel rooms available for purchase have dropped, in some cases taking more than $1 million off the previous asking price.
“I have never seen buildings plummet so dramatically,” Ondel Hylton, senior content director at CityRealty said. “It seems like this is a bottom.”
Brokers attribute the crash to a combination of the coronavirus pandemic and Trump’s polarizing image. Several brokers say many potential buyers won’t even look at Trump buildings now.
But, bargain hunters are swooping in to take advantage of buying a luxury apartment at a cheap price.
“Fifty percent of the people wouldn’t want to live in a Trump building for any reason … but then there are guys like me,” Lou Sollecito, a car dealer who recently bought a two-bedroom unit with views of the Empire State Building told AP. “It’s a super buy.”
“They’re giving them away,” says Lane Blue who paid $160,500 in March for a studio in Trump’s Las Vegas tower, $350,000 less than the seller paid in 2008. It was his second purchase in the building this year and may not be his last, according to AP.
“We can see the river. We can see the lake. It has a downtown view,” says Nilufar Kabir, who bought a one-bedroom unit in Trump’s Chicago condo-hotel in February for $680,000, nearly one-fifth less than what the seller paid. “It’s a bargain.”
Still, the Trump brand is so toxic that hotels and condos that once paid millions just to use his name is now removing it from their buildings.
“I’d be happy if his name was taken off,” says Gary Gabriel, who owns an apartment in Trump Palace on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “It’s embarrassing.”
