Summer doldrums hit NYC new dev sales

New York’s new condo market got lost in the lazy days of summer in July, as sales dipped below a pre-pandemic average for the first time in months. 

The number of new condos sales fell 22 percent last month, according to a Marketproof report, following a healthy spring that was buoyed by tight inventory in the resale market.

“The market cooled off from June into July,” said Marketproof CEO Kael Goodman, “but is still outperforming its historical year-to-date numbers by a wide margin.” 

Some 24 percent more apartments have sold so far this year than a pre-pandemic average.

Sales of new inventory has been a bright spot in the New York market, with many recent homebuyers locked in the golden handcuffs of low mortgage rates — an outcome of federal policy meant to blunt the economic impact of the pandemic.

The top-performing luxury building and top-selling building overall was One High Line, which was taken over by the Witkoff Group and Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries following HFZ’s flameout. Since sales launched in June 2022, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group has sold 42 of 235 units.

The second-best seller in Manhattan was Claremont Hall, an offering by Lendlease and L+M affiliate LMXD in Morningside Heights that put 9 apartments in contracts. Also launched in June 2022, the building has since sold 21 of 187 units. 

With fewer resales and prolonged higher interest rates, developers can fish in a larger pool of buyers. “With the fall sales season now in sight, we forecast that demand for new dev will accelerate in coming months,” Goodman added. 

Still, the luxury market sold 26 percent fewer units in July than in June. Shvo sold a unit priced north of $20 million at the Mandarin Oriental, and so did Extell at 50 West 66th Street. Central Park Tower closed the priciest unit at a whopping $4,900 per square foot.

Revenue fetched by all new condo sales fell 30 percent in July to $613 million. The median sale price fell 4 percent to $1.49 million, while price-per-square-foot rose 7 percent to $1,682. 

In Brooklyn, some 98 new condo units sold, compared to 116 in Manhattan. The period saw a slump of 20 percent since June, but sales are up 22 percent this year in the outer borough compared to a pre-pandemic average. 

A modestly priced building at 618 Avenue H in Midwood closed more contracts than any other in Brooklyn, with Extell’s downtown Brooklyn Point building taking second with 6 contracts signed. Extell’s 482-unit building is now 76 percent sold after five years on the market.

In Queens, the Nusun Tower at 136-18 Maple Avenue in Flushing was the top seller, followed by the Greene at 45-30 Pearson Street in Long Island City, where the borough’s priciest unit sold on a per-square-foot basis: a three-bedroom apartment at Skyline Tower for $1,840, beating Brooklyn’s highest priced unit: a three-bedroom unit at CIM and Livwrk’s Front and York, at 85 Jay Street in Dumbo, that sold for $1,825 per square foot.

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