Direct Central Park views command twice the price

Co-op buyers who covet direct views of Central Park pay three times as much for their apartment than a similar buyer without such requirements last year, according to a PropertyShark.com study cited by the Wall Street Journal. The median price for a co-op apartment on the park’s border was $2.4 million last year, compared with $795,000 for the median co-op in surrounding neighborhoods. That works out to a 202 percent premium, the highest since 2008, when the premium was 233 percent.

The median sales prices premium for all apartment types that bordered the park was 118 percent, as the difference for condominium prices was a negligible three percent. The Journal attributed the miniscule disparity to the higher prices for closings in new condo buildings near the park.

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The trend is another unique aspect of the city’s real estate market, as most cities’ residents treasure views along the waterfront rather than in urban centers. Though some brokers said New York could soon move in that direction, too, thanks to its improving waterfront parks, Miller Samuel President Jonathan Miller said the park premium mirrors New Yorkers’ “inward looking” culture. [WSJ]