Manhattan contract activity picks up as discounts grow

Contract signings shot up in Manhattan last week as discounts between initial and final asking prices grew.

Thirty-six homes asking $4 million or more went into contract last week, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report on Manhattan’s luxury contract activity. The average discount was 12 percent, the largest margin recorded this summer.

Donna Olshan, the report’s author, attributed the increase in transactions to the discounts.

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“That drives the deal home,” she said. But despite some sellers — including developers, who were the sellers in 19 of the 27 condo contracts signed last week — lowering their prices, Olshan said the continued demand shows how deep the buyer pool is.

“It really demonstrates how strong and resilient the market is in the depth of summer looking down the barrel of Delta,” she said, referring to the fast-spreading coronavirus variant.

The most expensive deal was for the top-floor penthouse at 56 Leonard Street. The duplex condo at the so-called Jenga Building was listed for just shy of $50 million, making it the priciest contract in Downtown Manhattan so far this year. The five-bedroom unit spans 7,779 square feet with 19-foot ceilings, a gas fireplace and a 1,252-square-foot terrace.

The second priciest unit was a full-floor co-op at 1030 Fifth Avenue. The five-bedroom unit on the 12th floor of the white-glove building has three fireplaces, a chef’s kitchen and overlooks Central Park. It was last asking $20 million.

The median asking price across last week’s 36 contracts was $6.3 million.