Manhattan prices likely have further to fall, a recent contract signing report from the city’s largest brokerage indicates. The
average sales price for a contract signed in June was $1.078 million,
down from $1,260,753 in May, according to the internal report, obtained
by The Real Deal, which tracked signed contracts from Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Manhattan offices dated June 5 to July 3. That’s 17.8 percent lower than the average sales price quoted in Elliman’s recent market-wide second-quarter report.
The two figures measure different data sets, since market reports are
based on closed sales, which often take place months or years after a
contract is signed. But contracts signings may be a clue to what future
market reports may hold, since they provide a rare glimpse or real-time
market conditions. Contract data is rarely available, however, because it is not public information. [more]