Manhattan’s luxury townhouse market posts strongest week since 2021

Buyers signed contracts for 8 townhouses asking $4M or more, led by a Sutton Place home priced at $30M

12 East 69th Street, Guy Wildenstein and 7 Sutton Place
12 East 69th Street, Guy Wildenstein and 7 Sutton Place (Google Maps, Getty)

A pair of East Side townhouses with astronomical asking prices found buyers at the end of March, powering Manhattan’s strongest week for luxury townhouse deals in nearly two years.

The most expensive home to go into contract in the borough last week was a townhouse at 7 Sutton Square asking $29.5 million, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report tracking signed contracts for homes asking $4 million or more.

Situated at the end of a cul-de-sac overlooking the East River, the five-story, Georgian-style mansion is 33-feet wide and spans 9,600 square feet, with five bedrooms, eight bathrooms and an elevator. According to the listing, there’s also a gated driveway, a rooftop terrace with a large seating area and grill, an enclosed “solarium-style wet bar,” staff quarters, bulletproof windows, two kitchens and access to a private garden. 

The home was sold by art dealer Guy Wildenstein, who first listed it for $48.5 million in 2016 while facing tax fraud charges in France. He bought the property for $32.5 million in 2008.

Of the 34 Manhattan homes that went into contract above $4 million last week, 23 were condos, eight were townhouses and three were co-ops. That’s the highest number of luxury townhouse deals in a single week since late August 2021, when a record nine contracts were signed. 

Some 34 townhouses asking $4 million or more have gone into contract in Manhattan since the start of the year, according to Olshan, matching last year’s output during the same time period.

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The second most expensive home to find a buyer last week was another townhouse: the five-story home at 14 East 69th Street in Lenox Hill, which was asking $26.5 million, down from $29.8 million when it first hit the market in March 2021. 

The sale closed for a mere $18.3 million just days after the contract was signed, records show. The seller, who used an LLC, was in a rush to beat a potential foreclosure, according to Olshan, which reports that five interested buyers were sent contracts requiring cash payments and agreements to waive inspections and allow the seller to stay in possession of the home for 60 days after closing. Two of the buyers responded with bids and deposits. 

The five-story, 30-foot-wide townhouse spans 13,000 square feet and has an elevator. The ground floor is medical office space and the second and third floors combine for an owner’s duplex. The top two floors have been turned into four one-bedroom apartments. Annual real estate taxes on the property are roughly $192,000.

Combined, the 34 luxury contracts’ asking prices totaled $262.5 million, with an average asking price of $7.7 million and a median of $6.2 million. The typical home was discounted 11 percent from its initial ask and spent 465 days on the market.

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