In the New York City real estate market, condos and co-ops are the two major types of apartments for sale. The primary difference between a condo and a co-op is that a condo involves apartment ownership and a percentage of the common areas, while a co-op involves buying shares in a corporation that is the building
. On average, condos in NYC are more expensive than co-ops, due to a combination of factors including the fact that condos are true real estate and have more amenities
. A key difference between coop and condo ownership is that co-op apartments are not considered to be 'real property' in the same way as houses, condos.
Co-ops have lower closing costs, require a lower down payment, and have more demand from investor buyers.
