Al Hirschfeld’s pink home at 122 East 95th Street (source: PropertyShark), the home’s interior with his artwork, and a self-portrait

A pink Upper East Side townhouse, filled with quirky pen-and-paper renditions of Broadway and Hollywood stars, was sold for $5.31 million, $150,000 more than the asking price, Curbed reported. The four-story, 4,160-square-foot home at 122 East 95th Street belonged to Al Hirschfeld, whose sketches of celebrities and Broadway show casts appeared on the covers of magazines and accompanied New York Times reviews, and evidence of his six decades in the home can be found surrounding the fireplace and on walls throughout the living areas. [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]

Leonard Steinberg, managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman

From the March issue:
It’s not your average buyer who can afford a Manhattan townhouse during the good times. And now, because the wealthy have been hit hard by the downturn and have less purchasing power, the pool of townhouse buyers has shrunk even more.

This month, The Real Deal talked to analysts and townhouse brokers about how one of the most specialized residential sectors of the luxury market (a market that has suffered severely since the downturn started) is holding up. According to one report, townhouses have seen an average sale price drop of 32 percent over the past year.

Some townhouses have seen even greater declines. One broker cited 16 West 12th Street, which was listed for $25 million and ultimately sold for 40 percent less, at $15 million.

Despite those price cuts, another broker said townhouses are still the most overpriced sector of the residential market, joking that there should be a tour called “Overpriced Townhouses in the 70s.”

For more on what kinds of homes are faring best and worst and who is still in the market to buy, we turn to our panel of experts.

From the June issue: If developers think selling new condominiums in Manhattan is tough, they should try finding buyers for high-end townhouses. Pricey, older townhouses appeal to a tiny percentage of buyers — by one broker’s estimate, just 3 percent of house hunters are looking for a townhouse — and as a result, they’ve always taken longer to sell than condominiums. But since the real estate market crashed, townhouses are proving even more difficult than usual to sell, and when properties do change hands, it’s only after steep price reductions. “The townhouse market has been a little on the slow side,” said Anne Snee, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group. “Townhouses are trickier to market. It’s taking longer than normal for everything to sell.” [more]