Chicago Business looks at a past and current condo craze. "Sara Benson acquired her first condominium in the city at the peak of the boom, back when speculators traded condos like stocks and the value of some units doubled in as little as a year. It turned out, she paid too much: $24,000."

"That became clear when she sold the one-bedroom walkup in Buena Park for $13,000 four years later, after the Chicago condo market crashed. 'It was a bloodbath,' recalls Ms. Benson, a residential broker who was working as a property appraiser at the time. 'So many developers got caught up in the excitement and frenzy of the market. During the price plummet, 'there were owners in tears,' recalls Ms. Benson."

"The Chicago area led the nation in condo conversions, with almost 70,000 units converted during the 1970s. At the peak in 1979, buildings sold out in a single day. Some people bought units without seeing floor plans. The condo market 'became the same type of cocktail-party chatter that we have today,' says Herb Emmerman."

"Speculators intending to quickly flip units got stuck, either selling at a loss or renting them out. Developers were forced to hire auctioneers to sell off excess units in the glutted market. "

"After adding 13,820 condos to the downtown market in the 1970s, developers added just 5,429 in the 1980s. The nation's top converter in the 1970s, Chicago-based American Invsco Corp, which aspired to become the 'General Motors of real estate,' saw its far-flung empire shrink to a fraction of its size as the market tanked. 'In '80 and '81 it was a disaster,' recalls its chairman, Nicholas Gouletas. 'Before that it was wonderful.'"

"More than a quarter-century after the city's first condo craze, or 'condomania,' as it was called at the time, Chicago is several years into another condo boom fueled by low interest rates, the growing appeal of city living and plenty of speculative activity."

"In one respect, however, the market is riskier today. Most developers back then were converting apartments into condos, adding little to the overall supply of housing stock. Today, condo developers mostly are building new high-rises, adding more than 26,000 units, excluding conversions, to the downtown market since 2000. Another 8,600 units are on the drawing board for this year alone."

"The question now is whether they should be worried about the supply of new condos. 'There's a lot out there,' says appraiser and broker Mr. Howey, 'and prices are going to have to adjust. It's a commodity.'"

From Realtor Magazine. "Destin, Fla. based Condo Cruise Lines, which has sold out its first luxury cruise ship condominium project, says it's already working on converting two more medium-sized ships."

"The first ship's condo prices started out at $349,000 and went as high as $529,000 last January. But after two price increases, the condos that are left range from $562,000 to $1,280,000, says Thomas Blackburn, the company's senior VP."

"'We didn't sell a single $349,000 suite as most people were looking for the higher rental income from the larger suites,' he says. 'So we eliminated the small, single suites and converted them to larger three-room penthouses and sold out.'"