Right on cue, several ultra-pricey listings hit the market straight after Labor Day, with sellers banking on a flood of post-summer buyers.
The theory is that buyers prefer to pull their wallets out in the cooler months, with the high-end crowd particularly unlikely to pick up real estate in the summer. While some brokers have told The Real Deal it’s still possible to get deals done between June and August, figures show it’s been particularly quiet this year.
Data from Olshan Realty show this past summer was the worst since 2012 in terms of contracts on homes asking $4 million and above. There were a total of 158 luxury contracts signed in Manhattan between June 26 and Sept. 3 this year, according to Olshan’s data. That’s an almost 14 percent decline on the 183 contracts signed during the same period last year.
“There’s so much competition out there now. There’s nothing to push anyone to buy,” said Donna Olshan, who added that overall there have still be more contracts signed this year than in 2016. “It’s telling us there is price resistance. … Nobody knows what the buyer pool is for the luxury market.”
The decrease is driven by the drop in contracts on new development apartments, which dropped 37 percent from last summer to a total of 56.
Still, many high-end sellers aren’t deterred.
Here’s a look at some of the city’s most expensive places listed this week, according to StreetEasy:
66 East 11th Street, PH
Price: $33.8 million
This penthouse in the Delos Building hit the market this week, asking a cool $33.8 million, or $4,387 per square foot. The 7,693-square-foot triplex last sold for $26.1 million in March last year, so the sellers are hoping to make a hefty profit. Due to be complete in late this year, according to the listing, the apartment has four bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and a rooftop spanning 2,300 square feet. Kim Kardashian reportedly toured the apartment in 2014 — back when it was asking $50 million — and Leonardo DiCaprio sold his pad in the building at a $2 million loss.
Units at the building feature vitamin C-filtered showers as well as circadian rhythm lighting designed for individual sleep cycles. Douglas Elliman’s Trish Riedel and Keren Atzlan have the listing.
211 Central Park West 16B-17AB
211 Central Park West, 16B-17AB
Price: $29.5 million
Spanning 7,000 square feet in the iconic Beresford co-op building, this five-bedroom home debuted on the market this week at $29.5 million. The home features “panoramic views” of Central Park. There are herringbone floors, wood-burning fireplaces, two terraces and a library.
Designed by Emery Roth, the Beresford has attracted some big names in the past. Jerry Seinfeld Owns A Place there, and Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman has bought two units in the building.
Corcoran Group’s Deborah Grubman, David Adler and Paula Albano have the listing.
45 East 68th Street
Price: $23 million
This townhouse, currently set up as five separate units, is on the market for the first time in nearly four decades — with an ask of $23 million. Designed C.P.H. Gilbert, it was once the home of journalists Richard Kollmar and Dorothy Kilgallen. They aired their daily chat show “Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick” from a studio on the fourth floor from 1945 through 1963.
The home spans 10,839 square feet and could accommodate five or six bedrooms, a chef’s eat-in kitchen and a full-floor master suite. Compass’ Joshua Wesoky and Chad Longmore have the listing.
730 Park Avenue #1213C
730 Park Avenue, 1213C
Price: $22 million
This five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom apartment in one of Park Avenue’s toniest co-ops hit the market this week with a $22 million price tag. It also has a private elevator entrance and a 32-foot living room. There’s also a 147-bottle wine refrigerator, library and gourmet eat-in kitchen.
Like most storied co-ops in the city, it’s had some well-heeled inhabitants. Late journalist Mike Wallace owned an apartment there. In 2012, a penthouse in the building that sold for $39 million set a Park Avenue penthouse record. However, as TRD reported in this month’s magazine, luxury co-ops on Park Avenue have taken a hit in recent years. The number of Sales On The Street is forecast to drop nearly 24 percent this year from the 2014 peak, according to figures from appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
Corcoran’s Cathy Franklin, Alexis Bodenheimer and Marion Smith have the listing.
21 East 61st Street #12E
21 East 61st Street, 12E
Price: $10.8 million
This 2,284-square foot home in Extell Development’s condop development is asking $10.8 million, which is $800,000 more than what it last sold for in 2015, records show. The home has three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms, white oak floors and polished quartzite kitchen counters, according to the listing.
In January, Extell cut the price of five of the remaining apartments in the building by 10 percent. Corcoran’s Christine Reilly has the listing.