Trophy sales push condo market to record highs in 2013

Dottie Herman and 135 East 79th Street
Dottie Herman and 135 East 79th Street

Sky-high prices for trophy apartments drove the Manhattan condominium market to new records in 2013, according to an analysis of city records. Indeed, there were over 50 closings averaging $8.9 million or more in just four new luxury developments, the data show, pushing the median condo price to a record $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The fourth-quarter average price also was at an all-time high of $2.14 million, according to the analysis, carried out by the Wall Street Journal. A $42 million penthouse at 18 Gramercy Park was the priciest closed sale.

“All the stars are aligned,” Douglas Elliman president Dottie Herman told the newspaper. “As long as we keep the city safe and clean and healthy we are looking at a great future.”

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A flurry of closings at tony condo projects in the second half of the year pushed the statistics skyward, similar to what took place in 2008 with closings at 15 Central Park West And The Plaza Hotel, brokers told the Journal.

At Brodsky Organization’s 135 East 79th Street for example, 14 condos closed for an average price of $9.07 million beginning in October, the Journal noted. And at JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group’s Walker Tower, 21 condos have closed for an average price of $8.9 million since November.

In terms of contracts signed, the Manhattan luxury market also had its biggest year since 2007, with 1,372 contracts signed at $4 million or above, as The Real Deal reported. [WSJ]  – Hiten Samtani