Only 73 condos sold in W’Burg last quarter

Only 73 condominiums sold in Williamsburg during the first quarter, a post-financial crisis low for the Brooklyn neighborhood, according to a residential market report released today by the Real Estate Board of New York.

The figure represents a 52 percent decrease from the same time last year, the report shows. The drop can be attributed to an historic lack of condos and co-ops in the area, where new developments are mostly rentals, REBNY said.

Despite the inventory crunch, however, sales were up year-over-year citywide.

About $8.1 billion in residential sales closed during the first quarter, a 23.4 percent jump over 2012’s first quarter, according to the report. And the figure represents a 7.6 percent jump over the last quarter, which saw a flurry of transactions as sellers tried to avoid a year-end rise in capital gains taxes.

The uptick in sales volume signals a post-recession comeback for the city’s residential market, REBNY officials speculated. The last time the city saw such a high dollar volume was in the first quarter of 2007, the report said, when the total value of recorded sales was $10 billion.

“Our report shows strong positive signs this quarter in terms of growth in the total consideration of New York City’s residential sales, as well as increased activity,” said Steven Spinola, REBNY president. “The luxury market continues to show strength but a broader look at various market segments shows that the residential real estate market has recovered.”

The Upper East and Upper West Sides saw the majority of sales in the first quarter, with 751 and 550 sales respectively. In Brooklyn, Park Slope saw 161 sales, while Bedford Stuyvesant saw 153. –Katherine Clarke