Sales volume falls for seventh straight quarter

Source: Eastern Consolidated, CoStar and PropertyShark.com

Property sales volume fell for the seventh straight quarter in the first quarter of this year, according to the May Manhattan economic indicators report from Eastern Consolidated, released today. The volume of multi-family sales fell 40 percent between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, to just under $200 million — a 96 percent drop from the market peak in mid-2007.

The Massey Knakal Manhattan building sales report for the first quarter, also released today, projects a 59 percent decrease in dollar sales volume and a 68 percent drop in the number of sales through 2009 for buildings below East 96th Street and West 110th Street. The $45.3 million sale of 488 Seventh Avenue was the quarter’s largest sale and one of only five sales over $10 million. But the volume of multi-family sales increased, according to the Eastern Consolidated report.

In the office market, sublease space increased 26 percent between the end of 2008 and the first quarter of this year. Most of the space came on the market in Midtown, where there is 11 million square feet of sublease space available, according to the Eastern Consolidated report. TRD