Manhattan luxury market has best month in six years

144 contracts signed in February on homes asking a combined $1.2 billion

A Columbus Circle apartment once owned by Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen  went into contract last week, helping the Manhattan luxury home market finish February on a high note. 551 West 21st Street on the right. (Photos via Compass, Getty, Foster and Partners)
A Columbus Circle apartment once owned by Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen  went into contract last week, helping the Manhattan luxury home market finish February on a high note. 551 West 21st Street on the right. (Photos via Compass, Getty, Foster and Partners)

Manhattan’s luxury market is on a four-week streak the likes of which it has not seen since 2015.

In February, 144 homes asking more than $4 million — or $1.18 billion altogether — went into contract in the borough, according to Olshan Realty. The last time the market had such a month was in early 2015 when 138 properties asking $1.2 billion went into contract.

Last week alone saw 40 contracts inked, according to Olshan’s latest market report. That’s up from the previous week’s haul of 36 contracts and it marked the first time the weekly number of contracts reached 40 since August 2016. The average discount from the first asking price to the final ask was 11 percent.

“It’s the trend and if you believe in buying into the trends, then you can say the luxury market is back,” said Donna Olshan, author of the report.

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The majority of last week’s deals were Downtown condominiums. Of the 26 condos that went into contract, 14 were sponsor units. It continued a trend this year of new development condo sales picking up: year-to-date, 185 condos have gone into contract and the vast majority, 103 of the units, were sold by developers, per Olshan.

Also in Manhattan last week, contracts were signed for nine co-ops and four townhouses asking $4 million or more.

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The most expensive contract was for two adjacent condos at the Foster + Partners-designed building at 551 West 21st Street in West Chelsea. They appear to have sold at a loss. The units were sold by an investor who had paid $31.28 million in 2016. The units were listed as a pair a year later for $40 million but were asking a combined $25.99 million when they went into contract last week.

Together, the condos span 8,131 square feet, but they are separate homes and figure to be combined by the new owner.

Listing broker Brett Miles of Compass told Olshan the buyer was a New York family. He handled the listing with Aysegul Demir of Douglas Elliman. The buyer was represented by Michael Sin of Adara Advisors.

The second priciest contract of the week was a renovated unit at 80 Columbus Circle. The 5,323-square-foot unit 74AB is the combination of two units, one of which was formerly owned by NFL quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

The seller bought the two units for a combined $35.5 million between 2011 and 2014, and initially listed the renovated condo in October 2019 for $29 million. The unit went into contract last week seeking $25 million.

The buyer was a New Yorker who is moving back to the city with his family after living overseas, listing broker Alexa Lambert of Compass, who handled the sale with Marc Achilles, told Olshan. The buyer was represented by Ileen Schoenfeld of Brown Harris Stevens.