The townhouse market slipped significantly in the first quarter of 2017, but sellers in Park Slope and the Upper West Side had plenty of reasons to smile.
Overall, the total townhouse sales volume in the first quarter dropped to $592 million — a year-over-year fall of 31 percent from $857 million, according to a quarterly report from Leslie J. Garfield. The total number of transactions decreased from 101 in 2016 down to 82 this year, while the average sale price fell from $8.6 million to $7.2 million. The average price per square foot declined too, going from $1,432 last year down to $1,340 in the first quarter of 2017 — a 6 percent drop.
The report showed most neighborhoods saw declines across the board, but on the Upper West Side, sales volume jumped 88 percent year-over-year to hit almost $119 million. The average sale price was almost $8.5 million, a 35 percent jump on the same time last year. The average price per square foot was $1,446 — a 26 percent increase.
Upper West Side Townhouses Q1
In Park Slope, sales volume rose by 105 percent to hit almost $81.4 million, the report found. The average sales price increased by 8 percent to reach almost $3.9 million, and the average price per square foot was $1,130 — a 21 percent increase. The number of sales jumped 90 percent to hit a total of 21.
Park Slope Townhouses in Q1
The Upper East Side saw a sales volume decline of 36 percent year-over-year, with total sales volume hitting almost $188 million in the first three months of the year, the report noted. Midtown East, which had just two transactions this past quarter, saw its total sales volume plummet 57 percent to $10.7 million. There was just one sale in Gramercy area, and five in Greenwich and the West Village in the first quarter of this year. Six townhouses sold in Chelsea, with a total sales volume of almost $41.4 million — down 47 percent on from the first quarter of last year.
The total sales volume in the East Village in the first quarter of 2017 was $31 million, a 21 percent drop from the first quarter of last year. Central Harlem saw nearly $21.5 million in sales volume — a 16 percent jump on last year. However the average sales price, just under $2.4 million, was a 22 percent drop on last year. According to the report, prices in Central Harlem have risen 95 percent in the past five years. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Heights had just $10.8 million in sales volume.
Despite some notable townhouse sales in the past few months, including the Wildenstein mansion on the Upper East Side for $79.5 million and Bungo Shimada’s townhouse at 7 East 76th Street for $41.5 million, prices have been trending down and days on market steadily rising.
The median townhouse prices fell by 5.3 percent last year to $4.97 million and the number of days a property spent on the market averaged 164 in 2016, up by 47 percent from the previous year.
However, when compared to the last quarter of 2016, the first few months of this year saw solid gains. The total sales volume for 2016’s fourth quarter was $389 million, 52 percent less the first quarter of 2017. The number of transactions in the last quarter of 2016 were 63, and the average sale price was $6.2 million.