From left, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Dottie Herman, Halstead Property’s Greg Heym and the Corcoran Group’s Pamela Liebman The volume of Manhattan home sales declined at least 12 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, although prices continued to hold steady, according to quarterly reports issued today by the city’s largest residential real estate brokerages. Experts proffered a host of explanations for the drop in sales activity, from global economic chaos to low inventory levels to financing issues for buyers in the middle of the market. [more]

From left, two pictures from Town Residential, the Spire Group and the Level Group’s holiday parties (see jump for specific captions)

[Updated at 3 p.m. on Dec. 19 with picture from Platinum Properties' party] It’s been three years since the city’s two largest residential brokerages, Prudential Douglas Elliman and the Corcoran Group, cancelled their once notorious holiday bashes, citing the plunging economy and the corresponding embrace of austerity.

While the residential sales market has largely recovered from 2008 (even if it hasn’t reached pre-crash levels), and the rental market is on fire, the specter of financial strife continues to hover over the holiday season like Scrooge’s Ghost of Christmas Past, wreaking havoc with the party calendar.

“This year they’re more sparse,” Iman Bacodari, vice president and associate broker for the Jacky Teplitzky team at Elliman, said of the industry’s holiday parties. “I’m not seeing them one after another, I’m not seeing big splurges.
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The Real Estate Board of New York held its 23rd annual Residential Deal of the Year Awards and Charity Gala last night at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers. The top prizes went to Sharon Baum, senior vice president and director of the exclusive properties division of the Corcoran Group, who received the Henry Forster Award for Lifetime Achievement, and Norman Horowitz, executive vice president at Halstead Property, who won the first prize Residential Deal of the Year Award in  sales. The Rookie Salesperson of the Year Award was given to Sarah Williams, an agent with Halstead Property, for what REBNY called “her impressive entry into New York City’s residential sales market.” – Miranda Neubauer [more]

Dottie Herman, president
of Prudential Douglas Elliman

Though pricing indicators were mixed, the volume of Manhattan residential sales increased in the third quarter of 2011, creating an overall picture of stability in Manhattan’s residential market, according to quarterly reports issued today by the city’s largest real estate brokerages.

The market’s bright spots included an uptick in sales at the most expensive end of the market — larger or relatively high-end properties (those at $5 million and above) — as well as an overall decrease in inventory, which buoyed prices, and an influx of foreign buyers investing in condominiums, experts said.

The median sales price hardly budged since last year, dropping a mere 0.3 percent to $911,333, an increase of 7.2 percent over the previous quarter, according to a report from Prudential Douglas Elliman. As The Real Deal reported in the October issue, the number of sales rose 16.7 percent year-over-year and 17.2 percent since last quarter, hitting 3,106, the report said. [more]

Corcoran Sunshine’s Division III softball team
By Omari Allen and Candace Taylor

From the July issue: It’s shaping up to be an intense summer for the city’s major residential real estate firms, not only at the closing table but on the playing field as well.

Several of the city’s major residential firms — the Corcoran Group, Prudential Douglas Elliman and Halstead Property — play against each other in the NYC Metro Sports League, which includes about 200 co-ed corporate softball teams from different industries.

The Douglas Elliman Rock Stars compete against the Halstead Homers and Corcoran Closers in the “serious and competitive” Division II, explained Mark Baum, an associate broker at Elliman and manager of Rock Stars.

Elliman also has another other team, the Greatest Hits, who play in the more-laid-back Division III, Baum said. Corcoran Sunshine’s team also plays in Division III.

Real estate brokers are naturally competitive, so for many of the players, the league is no laughing matter.
“We’re disciplined, and we’re serious about it,” said Baum, adding that “it’s more fun to win than lose.”

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The Manhattan residential real estate sales market can best be characterized as stable, according to second-quarter reports issued by the city’s largest real estate brokerages, signaling strength amidst an uncertain economic climate elsewhere in the country. Reports from Prudential Douglas Elliman, the Corcoran Group and data from sister firms Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens show mixed but healthy indicators. In a still strict lending environment, it comes as little surprise that the best performing sectors of the market — the top end of the market where buyers are wealthiest, and the bottom end of the new development market where units qualify for Federal Housing Authority-approved loans — were those where financing came easiest. [more]

Chelsea Muse, 537 West 27th Street

Leasing begins today at Chelsea Muse, the 28-unit building at 537 West 27th Street, according to the project’s developers Ekstein Development. The units range in size from 485 to 1,293 square feet, and are priced between $2,499 and $6,900 per month. The units are being marketed by Halstead Property Development Marketing and move-ins will start August 1. “Residents will have some of the finest art galleries and restaurants in New York — in addition to the High Line and Hudson River Park in their front yards and a host of amenities at home to complement this unique living experience,” said Erik Ekstein, president of Ekstein Development. The building has on-site laundry, a common terrace, a virtual doorman and a fitness center. Ekstein was also the developer of the nearby condominium +aRt, at 540 West 28th Street, which hit the market in March. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

After four years, construction wrapped up last week at Harlem Sol, the two-building project at 121 and 123 West 131st Street, between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. The development, comprised of a renovated, four-unit brownstone with 14-foot ceilings and an eight-unit, new construction building next door with views of the city skyline, is 25 percent in contract. Two one-bedroom floor-through apartments and one two-bedroom duplex are left in the brownstone, No. 121, while six units are left at No. 123, which contains studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom duplexes. TRD [more]

Bond New York has launched a Chinese-language section on its website in an effort to attract Asian investors and buyers, Crain’s reported. It is also embarking on a Web marketing campaign to identify the brokerage and the wider New York market to Chinese-speaking buyers overseas.
Bond is not the first brokerage to target foreign buyers. Marketing firm Prodigy Network allows visitors to switch its website to Spanish from English. The Corcoran Group’s site lets clients search for agents who speak a total of 29 foreign languages and Halstead, meanwhile, lists speakers of 19 languages. [more]

By Katherine Clarke and Lauren Elkies

Terra Holdings, parent company of Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property, is launching a new development marketing company and Stephen Kliegerman, executive director of new development marketing at Halstead Property, has been selected to head it up, according to an internal memo leaked to The Real Deal. A public announcement is imminent, according to a spokesperson for Halstead.

Kliegerman will not be leaving Halstead. Terra Development will market development projects represented by both Brown Harris and Halstead, of which Kliegerman will become president.

Though the memo dates back to April, the move has remained relatively under the radar. When contacted by The Real Deal late yesterday afternoon, Halstead would not disclose any information about the move, but said a public announcement would be released within the next 48 hours or so. [more]