Big price cuts lead to big sales in Harlem

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From left: The Douglass, Windows on 123, the Livmor and Parc Standard

Last year real estate insiders and prospective homebuyers worried about the glut of new development inventory in Harlem. But that’s no longer the case, thanks largely to price cuts on the units in those buildings, some of which are selling for less than $500 per square foot.

Many buildings introduced to the market in the last year are now mostly filled. The 72-unit Livmor, the 28-unit Parc Standard and the 38-unit Douglass, all on Frederick Douglass Boulevard, are sold out. Meanwhile, introduced this summer, the 73-unit co-op 88 Morningside is 71 percent sold, the 86-unit Gateway is 90 percent sold and Windows on 123 is on its second phase of sales.

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In fact, 150 units were sold in Central and East Harlem in the third quarter of this year, the Post said. It’s the fifth consecutive quarter with more than 100 sales and the best quarter on record save the third quarter of 2007 when 160 units sold.

“This quarter there was a pop,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel and the preparer of New York City market reports. “[Sales] levels have been higher than pre-Lehman levels.”

The catch though, is that prices are far lower than pre-Lehman levels. The Post said the average price of a Harlem co-op or condo was $582 per square-foot in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the $836 average price per square foot recorded in the area in 2007. [Post]