Manhattan’s luxury residential market recorded 24 contracts at $4 million and above last week, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly market report.
That was the eighth-straight week the number of luxury contracts topped 20 deals. But the first quarter of 2018 notched only 282 contracts, a 15 percent decline from the same time last year.
What’s more, luxury homes spent an average of 469 days on the market, a 20 percent increase over the average of 390 days in 2017. That’s the longest it’s taken to sell a home since Olshan began tracking the statistic in 2011.
And pricey homes had an average discount of 10 percent from the original ask to when properties went into contract.
The four Nor’easters the city saw in March and the 3,000-point drop in the stock market since January certainly had an impact, but the market still seems to be suffering from unrealistic expectations.
“Putting it all together, in my opinion, the luxury market is screaming OVER PRICED!!!,” Olshan wrote.
“Austin Powers” actor Mike Myers’ penthouse at 72 Mercer Street in Soho took the week’s No. 1 spot, going into contract with an asking price of $13.95 million. The actor originally listed the duplex condo in 2015 and then took it off the market with an asking price of $16.95 million. He put it back on the market in November with a price chop of $3 million.
Myers last year sold his 443 Greenwich condo last year for $14 million – $675,000 less than he paid for the apartment just months earlier.
A three bedroom, 3.5 bath condominium at 1049 Fifth Avenue took the week’s No. 2 spot, going into contract with an asking price of $12.5 million.
The week’s asking price sales volume for luxury homes totaled $172.56 million, with a median asking price of $6.74 million. Luxury homes spent an average of 507 days on the market for the week, with an average discount of 10 percent from the original to the final asking price. [Olshan] – Rich Bockmann