While the statistics are improving for Manhattan home sales, brokers are still expressing some fear about the health of the island’s market, according to the Wall Street Journal. Sales in the second quarter were up 7 percent year-over-year and the median sales price was $850,000, 3 percent higher than it was during the prior-year quarter.
But brokers said the improving numbers are due to a brief surge in activity in the late spring, and they are beginning to worry that the spike may be tailing off as economic fears resurface. According to UrbanDigs.com founder Noah Rosenblatt, May was one of the most active months he’s seen in years — and that will be reflected in third-quarter closing data — but he said he believes “the best part of the year has already happened.”
Still there are positive signs at both ends of the market. This year has proven to be a record setting one for condos and co-ops, thanks to the $88 million sale at 15 Central Park West, the $90 million-plus contract announced at One57 and a $52 million co-op deal at 740 Park Avenue. At the same time, co-op sales were up nearly 9 percent on an annual basis, with a median price that fell by 2.2 percent, which suggest first-time home buyers at then lower end of the market are becoming more active. [WSJ]