New York City new condo sales were static in March

New condo sales were slow in Manhattan in March, according to a Marketproof report.

Fewer condos sold in Manhattan last month than in February, despite an uptick in the luxury market, while buyers in Brooklyn signed contracts for five more units than last month.

“With [March] demand closely resembling that of the pre-pandemic period, we may see some normalization of the market as mortgage rates stabilize,” said Marketproof CEO Kael Goodman.

While buyers may be eyeing a cut to interest rates from the sidelines, hoping for cheaper mortgages later this year, more inventory on the market has spurred modest optimism.

“We’re not in a booming market,” said Serhant’s Ravi Kantha. “But we’re not in a bad market.” The long-term outlook for new condo sales includes gradually dwindling inventory that will buoy prices.

Newly built luxury condos commanded top-dollar, although March marked the slowest month in three years for luxury contract signings, including resales.

Three units at Alf Naman’s 125 Perry Street, in the West Village, went into contract for a combined asking price of $112 million, accounting for more than 25 percent of luxury dollar volume last month, including the penthouse unit which asked more than $8,000 per square foot.

Witkoff and Access Industries’ One High Line put six units into contract in March, each asking for more than $4 million, a common threshold for what is considered luxury pricing. Some 40 percent of the building’s 235 apartments have been sold in the last year.

Of 43 luxury deals signed in March, 40 were in Manhattan and three in Brooklyn. The priciest closing was at OKO Group’s Aman Residences for $50 million, or $8,000 per square foot.

The most popular buildings in Manhattan, where buyers signed 133 new contracts last month, were on the island’s southern tip, and featured more modest pricing.

The Broad Exchange Building, a 307-unit conversion developed by LCOR in the Financial District, reported eight contracts each priced below $1.9 million. Related Companies’ Tribeca Green in Battery Park City reported seven new contracts each priced at $1.7 million or below.

The median price per square foot for new condos in Manhattan was about $2,000. In Brooklyn, the median price was about $1,400 per square foot, and $1,100 per square foot in Queens.

Buyers in Brooklyn favored Tishman Speyer and Vanke’s 11 Hoyt Street in Downtown Brooklyn, signing ten deals at the 53-story tower that each asked $1.75 million to $4.3 million. A waterfront development at 29 Huron Street in Greenpoint, created by private equity investor Quadrum Global, put eight units into contract asking $3.3 million and below.

The priciest closing in Brooklyn was for a condo at Fortis’ Olympia Dumbo that sold for $7.3 million, or $2,365 per square foot, its full asking price.

Chris Jiashu Xu’s Skyline Tower in Long Island City was the biggest seller in Queens, notching six new contracts, each south of $2 million.