New condo sales strong in June, tightening supply

With resale inventory limited, a new construction cycle is nearing

Witkoff's Steve Witkoff, Extell's Gary Barnett and Related's Jeff Blau with One High Line, Central Park Tower and 210 Warren Street
Witkoff's Steve Witkoff, Extell's Gary Barnett and Related's Jeff Blau with One High Line, Central Park Tower and 210 Warren Street (Witkoff, Related Companies, One High Line, Percival Kestreltail, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Google Maps, Getty)

New-development sales were robust in June, putting the selling season on firmer ground.

Limited resale inventory helped developers sell units at a steady clip despite high mortgage rates. They notched 323 new contract signings last month, according to data firm Marketproof

“It’s been a very good year for new development,” Marketproof CEO Kael Goodman said in the report, “and we see this continuing in the second half.”

Buyers, who are increasingly coming to the table with cash, picked up 28 percent more units this year than average, and June sales represented a 38-percent bump compared to before the pandemic. Revenue from new development grew 2 percent to $3.8 billion, median price-per-square-foot grew 7 percent to about $1,600 and median price fell 5 percent to $1.4 million.

Steve Witkoff’s One High Line commanded more luxury sales than any other development for a second straight month, as eight units worth about $120 million went into contract. Gary Barnett’s Extell Development came in second with three luxury sales amounting to more than $56 million. 

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Last month some 47 of 50 luxury sales, defined as $4 million and above, closed in Manhattan. Elsewhere in the central borough, Related Companies’ Tribeca Green at 210 Warren Street in Battery Park City notched 21 signed contracts under $3 million.

The three luxury contracts outside Manhattan were signed in Brooklyn Heights, at Hudson Companies’ One Clinton Street and at Quay Tower, at 50 Bridge Park Drive, developed by RAL Companies, Oliver’s Realty Group and Vanke. The two top-selling buildings in Brooklyn last month were Tishman Speyer and Vanke’s 11 Hoyt Street, which sold 9 units, and 435 Tompkins Avenue, which also put 9 units into contract. 

In Queens, developers sold nearly double the number of new-development units in the first half than in January through June of last year. The best-selling buildings were 134-16 35th Avenue, which put six sponsor units into contract in Flushing, and the Marina Astoria at 30-05 Vermont Avenue, with five new sales.

Consistently strong new development sales have put pressure on the supply of new condos, too, possibly forecasting a new cycle of construction.

“Developers are starting to talk about new projects,” Marketproof’s Goodman said. “By the end of the year, there could be as few as 10,000 new units available, which amounts to 31 months of inventory — a historical low.”

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