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]

(source: MNS)

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]

From the August issue: New Yorkers are fleeing the city in the scorching summer heat, trading subway cars for the Hamptons Jitney and business casual for bathing suits. Even so, the residential rental market is as sizzling-hot as the temperature, brokers say.
According to a market report released by the brokerage Citi Habitats, the average second-quarter rent for a Manhattan apartment jumped around 10 percent from the same period of 2010. Taking into consideration landlord concessions like a month of free rent, the median net-effective monthly rent paid by Manhattan tenants grew to $2,888 in the second quarter, up from $2,700 in the prior-year quarter, according to a report from Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“The rental market is going absolutely crazy,” said Bruno Ricciotti, a principal at Bond New York Real Estate. In some desirable neighborhoods, he said, apartments are renting for higher prices than they did during the peak of the real estate boom. [more]

From the July issue: The Manhattan residential market remained relatively stable, if lackluster, in
the second quarter of 2011, according to newly released market reports.
“We’re bumping along the bottom,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and the preparer of quarterly market reports for Prudential Douglas Elliman, the city’s largest brokerage firm.
Manhattan’s median sales price in the second quarter was $850,000, 17 percent below the market peak of $1.025 million in 2008, according to the Elliman report. That’s an improvement from the depths of the downturn, when Manhattan prices were down 25 to 30 percent from the high. “We’ve recaptured some of that,” Miller said.  [more]

From the South Florida website: The Miami housing market saw its highest level of sales activity in more than five years during the first quarter, with all-cash purchases accounting for close to two-thirds of that, according to the first-ever Miami housing market report by Douglas Elliman Florida, which was prepared by appraisal firm Miller Samuel and released today. Sales of condominium units, townhouses and single-family homes rose by 25.9 percent year-over-year, and cash purchases rose by 12 percent during that time period, the report says. Meanwhile, average sales prices were down by 14 percent from last year, reaching a five-year low of $260,918 as distressed properties took an increasing share of the market and remained stable pricewise. TRD [more]