After years of sluggish — or virtually non-existent — sales at Saxa’s the Prime condominium at 333 West 14th Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues, a late-summer uptick in sales has left the 10-story, nine-unit condo with only one unit left on the market. Why the sudden surge? “I think price has a lot to do with it,” said Michael Katz, RP Miller’s on-site sales associate. His group kicked off a new sales effort at the development a year ago (note: correction appended). Almost immediately after taking the helm, RP Miller slashed asking figures, and invited carolers to sing outside an open house at the project. Two weeks ago, RP Miller & Associates closed on its eighth unit: a 4,000-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse with three balconies and a private roof terrace that sold for $4.1 million, Katz said. Back when sales launched in September 2006, the asking price was $9.5 million. It was reduced to $7.5 million in January this year, and then finally to $5.9 million in July. TRD

Marc Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro and MQ Realty head Cesar Guevara

In a continuing bid for aggressive expansion, Century 21 NY Metro told The Real Deal today that it has acquired Queens-based sales and rental firm MQ Realty. MQ Realty, a nine-agent firm that previously specialized in Long Island City and Astoria, is headed by longtime agent Cesar Guevara. The six-year-old company has already vacated its office at 31-87 Steinway Street and moved into Century 21 NY Metro’s headquarters at 575 Madison Avenue, according to Marc Lewis, the president of Century 21 NY Metro. The move brings Century 21′s total agent count to roughly 150, Lewis said. That’s up from 95 in May of 2008. Century 21 NY Metro, which does both rentals and sales, was created by a 2006 merger of Dwelling Quest and Century 21 Kevin B. Brown. Lewis, who took the company’s reins in October of 2008, said he is looking to expand the company’s market share in Manhattan and hopes to double the its agents within the next 12 months. [more]

The days of dropping by a Sunday open house on a whim may be numbered. Sellers, frustrated by lowball offers and by buyers who are “just looking,” want to make sure they’re dealing with serious apartment-hunters. As a result, more and more potential buyers are being asked to provide detailed financial information — from their employer and salary to their debt ratio and savings — before they’re even allowed a peep at an apartment for sale.

“The listing brokers are scrutinizing the potential buyer before they even get to the building,” said Michael Signet, executive director of sales at Bond New York. “It’s a preventative measure [to keep sellers] from wasting their time with people who are just shopping around.”
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