Source: Sales data from Streeteasy.com and buyer/seller information from various published reports

Forget about new brokerage models, new markets and new economic realities. When it came to the top of the New York City residential sales market in 2011 consistency was king. (See the top 5 above and the top 10 sales after the jump.)

The effects of the European debt crisis crept across the Atlantic Ocean this summer, and hindered the traditional high season for sales — but not for the ultra-rich: 11 of the 25 Manhattan sales worth more than $20 million closed in June, July and August. In fact, July 15, the very same day eight European banks failed their stress tests, the ninth and 17th priciest sales of the year closed for a combined $49.75 million. [more]

Listing agent Paula Del Nunzio of Brown Harris Stevens and images of 4 East 84th Street (interior listing photo obtained via the Times)

An Upper East Side townhouse originally commissioned by Frank Woolworth is about to shatter New York City records when it hits the market for $90 million, likely the highest-ever official asking price for a single-family home in Manhattan.

According to the New York Times, Brown Harris Stevens townhouse guru Paula Del Nunzio is readying that listing for 4 East 80th Street, the 17,676-square-foot mansion currently owned by the estate of fitness mogul Lucille Roberts, who died in 2003.

Industry sources said its $90 million asking price will by far eclipse any other for a townhouse in New York City history; Aby Rosen’s 22 East 71st Street and the mansion near Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s, at 1016 Madison Avenue, were each, in 2008, asking $75 million. Neither property sold, and both have since slashed their asking prices. [more]

J. Christopher Flowers, the private equity magnate who, in 2006, logged the city’s priciest residential transaction ever with his $53 million purchase of the Harkness Mansion at 4 East 75th Street, has gotten more serious in his search for buyers for the townhouse in the wake of a separation from his wife, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last year, it was reported that Flowers, who has already put more than $4 million worth of renovations into the 114-year-old, 50-foot-wide mansion, wants around $50 million for the home. But he may be unlikely to get even that, sources now say. Comments

From the October issue: The ranks of Manhattan’s super-high-end listings may have shrunk over
the past year, but the city still boasts a number of properties with
sales prices north of $30 million. It’s no surprise that few of these mega-listings have traded in the
last year, with the global financial crisis paralyzing potential
buyers. But now, very high-end listings are beginning to generate
interest again, albeit at smaller price tags. (Case in point: Madonna’s
new $32.5 million Upper East Side townhouse, originally listed for $42
million in October of 2008). This month, The Real Deal looked at five of the city’s
priciest listings — some new, others market fixtures — along with
other noteworthy properties generating buzz this fall.