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By Country
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 Condominium United States
The first condominium law passed in the United States was in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1958. English Common law tradition holds that real property ownership must involve land, whereas the French civil law
tradition recognized condominium ownership as early as the 1804 Napoleonic Code; thus, it is notable that condominiums evolved in the United States via a
Caribbean government with a hybrid common-civil legal system. In 1960, the first condominium in the Continental United States was built in Salt La ke City, Utah.[citation needed] Initially designed as a housing cooperative (Co-op), the
Utah Condominium Act of 1960 made it possible for "Graystone Manor" (2730 S 1200 East) to be built as a condominium. The legal counsel for the project,
Keith B. Romney is also credited with authoring the Utah Condominium act of 1960. Romney also played an advisory role in the creation of condominium
legislation with every other legislature in the U.S. Business Week hailed Romney as the "Father of Condominiums". He soon after formed a partnership with Don
W. Pihl called "Keith Romney Associates", which was widely recognized throughout the 1970s as America's preeminent condominium consulting firm.
Section 234 of the 1961 National Housing Act allowed the Federal Housing
Administration to insure mortgages on condominiums, leading to a vast increase in the funds available for condominiums, and to condominium laws in every state
by 1969. Many Americans' first widespread awareness of condominium life came not from its largest cities but from south Florida, where developers had
imported the condominium concept from Puerto Rico and used it to sell thousands of inexpensive homes to retirees arriving flush with cash from the urban Northern U.S.
The primary attraction to this type of ownership is the ability to obtain affordable housing in a highly desirable area that typically is beyond economic reach.
Additionally, such properties benefit from having restrictions that maintain and enhance value, providing control over blight that plagues some neighborhoods.
Major American cities, including Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., have abundant condo development.
In recent years, the residential condominium industry has been booming in all of the major metropolitan areas such as
Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and New York. It is now in a slowdown phase.[citation needed] According
to Richard Swerdlow, CEO of Condo.com, "You're not going to see this giant overbuild again. It's hard to imagine
that you'd see in the next decade what we just saw. Real estate brokers and the developers were in almost a
ticket-collecting mode. They were processing orders because there was so much business to go around. Now that sort of investor phenomenon has gone away." He added, "That phenomenon has stopped."
An alternative form of ownership, popular in the United States but found also in other common law jurisdictions, is the
"cooperative" corporation, also known as "company share" or "co-op", in which the building has an associated legal
company and ownership of shares gives the right to a lease for residence of a unit. Another form is leasehold or
ground rent in which a single landlord retains ownership of the land on which the building is constructed in which the
lease renews in perpetuity or over a very long term such as in a civil law emphyteutic lease. Another form of civil law
joint property ownership is undivided co-ownership where the owners own a percentage of the entire property but
have exclusive possession of a specific part of the property and joint possession of other parts of the property; distinguished from joint tenancy with right of survivorship or a tenancy in common of common law.
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Condominium Ontario, Canada
In Ontario, condominiums are governed by the Condominium Act, 1998 with each development establishing a corporation to deal with day-to-day functions (maintenance, repairs, etc.). A board of directors is elected by
the owners of units (or, in the case of a common elements condominium corporation, the owners of the common interest in the common elements) in the development on at least a yearly basis. A general meeting is held
annually to deal with board elections and the appointment of an auditor (or waiving of audit). Other matters can also be dealt with at the Annual General Meeting, but special meetings of the owners can be called by
the board and, in some cases, by the owners themselves, at any time.
In recent years the condo industry has been booming in Canada, with dozens of new condo towers being erected each year. Toronto is the
centre of this boom, with 17,000 new units being sold in 2005, more than double second place Miami's 7,500 units. Outside of Toronto, the most common forms of condominium have been townhomes rather than highrises,
although that trend may be altered as limitations are placed on "Greenfields" (see Greenfield land) developments in those areas (in turn, forcing developers to expand upward rather than outward and to
consider more condominium conversions instead of new housing). Particular growth areas are in Kitchener/Waterloo, Barrie, and London. In fact, after Toronto, the Golden Horseshoe Chapter of the Canadian Condominium
Institute is one of that organization's most thriving chapters.
The Ontario Condominium Act, 1998 provides an effectively wide range of development options, including Standard, Phased, Vacant Land, Common
Element and Leasehold condominiums. Certain existing condominiums can amalgamate, and existing properties can be converted to condominium (provided municipal requirements for the same are met). Accordingly, the
expanded and expanding use of the condominium concept is permitting developers and municipalities to consider newer and more interesting forms of development to meet social needs.
On this issue, Ontario
condominium lawyer Michael Clifton writes, "Condominium development has steadily increased in Ontario for several years. While condominiums typically represent attractive lifestyle and home-ownership
alternatives for buyers, they also, importantly, introduce a new approach to community planning for home builders and municipal approval authorities in Ontario. ...[There are] opportunities for developers to be both
creative and profitable in building, and municipalities more flexible and imaginative in planning and approving, developments that will become sustainable communities." (In, A Comment about Condominiums,
Community Planning and Sustainability, Forum Magazine, Dec 06/Jan 07, p. 28.)
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Condominium Denmark
Condominiums (Danish ejerlejlighed, literally "owner-apartment") comprise some 5 % of Danish homes. They are traded and mortgaged on the same markets as free-standing houses, and are treated legally much
like other forms of real estate. Each owner-tenant directly owns his own apartment; the rest of the building and the ground on which it stands is owned jointly by the apartment owners who execute their joint
ownership through an owner's association. The expenses of maintaining the joint property is shared pro rata among the owners.
Another 5 % of Danish homes are in housing cooperatives (Danish andelsbolig),
which occupy a legal position intermediate between condominiums and housing associations. The entire property is legally owned by a non-profit corporation in which the tenants own shares; each share carries the
right and duty to lease an apartment from the cooperative. Shares can be bought and sold, but often the cooperative's rules strictly limit the price for which they may change hand. (In contrast, condominiums are
traded on a free market). Because the official share prices are often lower than the market value and sellers often retain freedom to select whom to sell to, under-the-table payments are common.
Current
public policy favors condominiums over housing cooperatives, and recent legislation have aimed ad making the latter more condominium-like. For example, since 2005, cooperative shares may be used to secure bank
loans. (However, Danish mortgage banks still may not mortgage individual housing cooperative apartments).
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Condominium India
Condominiums are more commonly known as "flats" in India. This type of housing is very common in larger cities like Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), Bengaluru (Bangalore), Hyderabad and Chennai
(Madras) but are not commonly found in rural areas. In India, they are registered as "co-operative housing society" rather than condominiums in that the owners actually have a share of the co-op and not
the actual real estate itself. Owners can sell the "share" in the open market, but they must receive approval from the co-op to complete the transaction.
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Condominium Singapore
In Singapore, "Condo" or "Condominium" are terms used for housing buildings with some special luxury features like security guards, swimming pools or tennis courts. Most Housings without such
features are built by the governmental Housing Development Board ("HDB"), and such HDB units can be possessed for rent or individually bought from the government. Condominiums and HDB flats make up the
overwhelming majority of available residential housing in the country.
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Condominium Australia
In Australia, condominiums are known as "community title schemes".
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