Home sales down in Soho/Tribeca: report

A so-called “bonus bounce” would be a boon to mid-priced luxury condos in Soho and Tribeca, according to a new report from real estate data and analytics company Radar Logic (see the full report below).

Transactions in the neighborhoods were 82 percent below their May 2007 peak in December, with units below $1 million and above $3 million seeing extremely low activity.

For condos in between, sales were at 85 percent of their peak, while prices, coming off of an increase through the fall season, dipped. The neighborhood’s average price per square foot in mid-December, at $1,100, was 35 percent below its peak in January 2009.

Nationwide data told a decidedly different story.

Home sales increased 44 percent in December 2009 on a year-over-year basis, according to Radar Logic’s composite of housing market data in 25 cities across the country. Prices were also up during December, in the first November to December price jump since 2004.

Sales of foreclosed homes, at prices 37 to 38 percent lower than in non-distressed property transactions, accounted for 24 percent of all sales by the middle of the month, down from 38 percent in January 2009.

“Most signs point to a return to more normal activity in housing markets,” Michael Feder, president and CEO of Radar Logic, said in a statement. “While we are still exposed to inventory swings and financing constraints, a continued recovery this spring looks likely.” TRD
RPXMonthlyHousingMarketReportforDecember2009