From the April issue: With the spring selling season kicking into high gear, brokers are up against an unwelcome obstacle: uninformed buyers who insist on submitting lowball offers.
Last month, brokers said they struggled to educate buyers accustomed to controlling the market — some of whom made bargain bids on reasonably priced properties — that the spring season is a different beast. New apartment hunters are in the mix, and inventory is still down in most parts of Manhattan. [more]
From left: Dottie Herman of Elliman, appraiser Jonathan Miller, Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group and Gregory Heym of Terra Holdings
Despite some major high-end deals closing last month, Manhattan’s luxury residential market, which has been strong since the third quarter of 2010, may soon lose its reputation as the most talked about sector in the real estate industry, according to Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. [more]
From the March issue: When Adina Azarian first opened her boutique rental firm, Adina Equities, in 2003, a veteran broker called to wish her luck and offer a key piece of advice.
“He told me that February is just an awful month for rentals,” recalled Azarian, who still runs her eponymous firm and also works at Keller Williams NYC as its “cultural ambassador.” [more]
From the February issue: A Central Park West mansion belonging to retired Coach executive Keith Monda sold last month for $22.4 million, a record price for a single-family townhouse on the Upper West Side. The purchase kicks off the New Year with echoes of 2011: luxury real estate maintaining (or even exceeding) its pre-crash values, and a wealthy foreigner — in this case, international buyer Igor Iankovsky — swooping in to own a piece of New York City.
But the rest of the residential market last month was inconsistent, brokers said; while there’s strong demand for mid-priced properties, sales of properties under $1 million are sluggish. [more]
The $2 million to $3.5 million homebuyer disappeared from the Hamptons during the fourth quarter, pushing the median sales price down even as the number and dollar volume of home sales increased, according to a market report released today by East End residential brokerage Town and Country Real Estate.
There were 290 homes sold during the fourth quarter of 2011, a 9.4 percent year-over-year increase, at a median price of $787,500, down 16.2 percent from the prior-year quarter. [more]
From the November issue: Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen kicked off last month by closing on the $25 million purchase of the penthouse co-op at 4 East 66th Street, where he already reportedly owns an apartment on the 11th floor. Allen appears to have had the inside scoop on the property, since it was not listed.
The buy was a standout price for the month, but Allen is not the only purchaser taking the plunge. Some buyers remain gun-shy and wary of the up-and-down financial market, but others have grown accustomed to the volatility, brokers said.
While September was characterized by fear over the economic fluctuations, brokers said, buyers in the last few weeks have started to make decisions faster (although foreign buyers reeling from the debt crisis continue to wait on the sidelines). Brokers also noted that lowball offers gained little traction and bidding wars started anew at some properties.
“These swings in the marketplace no longer have a jolting effect on homebuyers and investors in New York City,” said Robert Varvara, an associate broker at Miron Properties. [more]
While the wave of residential market reports issued by brokerages earlier this month found Manhattan home prices to be stable, the Real Estate Board of New York found prices to be increasing.
The average Manhattan home price in the third quarter increased 5 percent compared to the prior year quarter to $1.39 million, according to the REBNY report released today. Citywide, REBNY found home prices increased 8 percent to $780,000. Chelsea/Flatiron saw the biggest price increase over the last 12 months, as homes averaged $2.08 million, 16 percent more than they cost in the third quarter of 2010. – Adam Fusfeld [more]
From the September issue: August in New York City is usually a sleepy time, with offices empty by noon on Fridays and co-op boards disbanded for the summer.
Last month, however, was anything but quiet. After a bruising political battle over the debt ceiling, the U.S. saw its AAA credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor’s for the first time in history, prompting the stock market to plummet. If that weren’t enough, the city — already bracing for the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — suffered an earthquake and a hurricane. In the same week.
These events are, at a minimum, distractions from the real estate market. That was most palpably true as Hurricane Irene barreled toward New York City late last month. With the subways shut down, New Yorkers scurried to buy flashlights, and brokers canceled closings and showings [more]
New development condominium sales are up year-over-year in both Manhattan and Brooklyn for the second quarter of 2011, according to a second-quarter new development report released today by residential real estate firm MNS.
In Manhattan, condo sales prices were up 18 percent on an average compared to the second quarter of 2010, the report says. Compared with the first quarter of 2011, the average Manhattan new development price was virtually flat. Even though some condo sales are seeing strong sales, several real estate professionals told The Real Deal earlier this spring that many challenges lie ahead. [more]
New development condominium sales are up year-over-year in both Manhattan and Brooklyn for the second quarter of 2011, according to a second-quarter new development report released today by residential real estate firm MNS.
In Manhattan, condo sales prices were up 18 percent on an average compared to the second quarter of 2010, according to the report. Compared to the first quarter of 2011, the average Manhattan new development price was virtually flat. Even though some condo sales are seeing strong sales, several real estate professionals told The Real Deal earlier this spring that many challenges lay ahead. – Miranda Neubauer [more]
