In Defense of Urban Land Company

The other day I was complaining about Urban Land Company's habit of responding to their inability to sell units in their new condo "The Floridian" by increasing the volume of email they send out rather than lowering prices. Some research in my own inbox reveals, however, that that's not quite accurate -- an October 25, 2007 missive stated:

Studios from $244K
1 BRs from $345K
2 BRs from $444K
Penthouse from $450K

For the past several rounds of emails, the prices have in fact changed from what they were asking seven months ago. Now it's:

Studio from $244K
1 BRs from $301K
2 BRs from $442K
Penthouse from $625K

The giant increase in the Penthouse asking price perhaps reflects an effort to use framing effects to make the other units look like a good deal.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2008/05/in-defense-of-urban-land-company/45028/