The Daily Dirt: Condo check-in

Blame it on low inventory and high interest rates. 

For the second straight month, new condo sales dipped below pre-pandemic levels in October, according to data firm Marketproof.

New luxury condos are usually less affected by high interest rates, given the ability of their buyers to pay with cash. In fact, cash buyers made up 72 percent of new development condo sales in Manhattan last month.

But at the current pace of sales, inventory of condos priced between $1.5 million to $4 million would take fewer than three years to sell out if no new supply were added. Those pricier than $8 million have 3.7 years of inventory, Orion Jones reports. Limited supply has also driven up unit prices.

Manhattan and Brooklyn last month saw an annual uptick in contracts for homes priced above $1 million, according to the latest report by appraiser Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. But the increase is only impressive because numbers were so low last year, Harrison Connery reports. New listings dropped in both boroughs.

Some new inventory is on the way: The expiration of the property tax break 421a means developers are more likely to build condos than go the rental route.

This appears to be the case in Greenpoint, where new condo filings have surged. Developers filed 230 condo plans in the neighborhood last year, the most since 2010, Sheridan Wall reports. That outpaced every other Brooklyn neighborhood by at least 100.

What we’re thinking about: Are you at Somos? Send dispatches to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is referred to as a “zombie-ant fungus” because it takes over a carpenter ant’s body, “draining it of nutrients and hijacking its mind,” according to the Atlantic. The fungus compels the ant to cling to a low-lying leaf and wait to die, or, more specifically, until a stalk grows out of the ant’s head so that the fungus can disperse spores to more insects below.

Elsewhere in New York…

— Mayor Eric Adams has hired private law firm WilmerHale to communicate with federal authorities as they continue to investigate his campaign fundraising, Gothamist reports. Neither the mayor nor his chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, have been accused of wrongdoing.

— Democrats in New York hope putting abortion rights on the ballot next year will increase turnout and perhaps help their party flip the House, Politico New York reports. Six New York seats are up for grabs.

— They found Flaco. I am speaking, of course, about the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo in February and has since flown free in the park’s North Woods section. He was spotted Tuesday evening in a sculpture garden on East Second Street between Avenue B and Avenue C, the New York Times reports. This marked Flaco’s first extended trip away from the park. He may be searching (fruitlessly) for a mate.

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential closing Wednesday was $12 million for a condo at 200 Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $35 million for three condo units at 277 Fifth Avenue in NoMad.

New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Wednesday was a condo at 1 Central Park South asking $33 million. Douglas Elliman has the listing.

Breaking Ground: The largest new building filing of the day was for a 6,300-square-foot, four-story, mixed-use building at 84 Norman Avenue in Greenpoint. Zelta Design filed the permit application. — Jay Young