America’s upper echelon is getting richer, and the rising tide is bringing nine-figure residential deals back to Manhattan.
Since the start of the year, the borough has notched two sales above $100 million, marking the first transactions to exceed the threshold since 2022, public records show.
News broke of the latest deal earlier this week, a penthouse at Vlad Doronin’s Aman New York traded for $135 million. The sale came just a month after top broker Fredrik Eklund, John Gomes and Kent Wu of Douglas Elliman announced the closing of a penthouse at Extell Development’s Central Park Tower for $115 million.
“People are really rich and have gotten richer,” said Donna Olshan of Olshan Realty, who credited the uptick to gains in the stock market and the growing wealth among the country’s ultra-rich.
At the end of last year, the wealth of the top 1 percent soared to a record $45 trillion — up by $1 trillion from the previous year — largely driven by stock holdings, according to data from the Federal Reserve and reported by CNBC. Economists say the boost to the wealthy’s stock portfolios is pushing consumers to take more risks and spend more money.
“The top of the market is having a moment,” said appraiser Jonathan Miller. He added that while buyers at this end of the market aren’t constrained by mortgage rates, they’re still impacted by the Fed’s policy because of its effect on the stock market.
“Someone buying a $135 million apartment probably isn’t very concerned about interest rates, for the acquisition,” Miller said. But high networth individuals are still “very cognizant of the performance of the financial markets in the context of their businesses.”
“The stock market continues to move along,” he added.
Counting the latest sale in the Big Apple, nine-figure deals nationwide had by June already exceeded last year’s total, according to data cited in Miller’s Housing Notes newsletter.
High and getting higher
If sales over $100 million continue at this pace for the rest of the year, they’re on track to double the total reached in 2023. That total would set a new record, exceeding the nine deals logged during the pandemic buying frenzy in 2021.
But Miller said these headline-making deals aren’t indicative of any larger market trends. High mortgage rates, political uncertainty and sparse inventory continue to impact sales in the overall market.
“This [super luxury] market gets most of the real estate eyeballs but literally has nothing to do with housing for mere mortals,” Miller wrote in Housing Notes.
In New York, nine-figure deals reached new heights in 2021 when billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin paid $240 million for a quadplex at 220 Central Park South. The sale at Vornado Realty Trust’s supertall set the record for the priciest residential sale in the country.
The city continued riding high through 2022, notching two deals over $100 million. That year, billionaire investor Daniel Och sold his 220 Central Park South pied-a-terre for $188 million, and the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sold two Upper East Side apartments for $101 million.
But the following year paled in comparison to the previous two, with the priciest deal topping out at $80 million. Three deals this year — including the Central Park Tower and Aman New York sales, as well as an $82 million resale at 220 Central Park South — have already exceeded 2023’s most expensive.
In Manhattan, other contenders to make the $100 million-plus club this year include the $195 million triplex at Central Park Tower, marketed as the tallest penthouse in the world by Ryan Serhant.
The penthouse at Extell Development’s supertall served as a key plotline in the debut season of Serhant’s Netflix reality TV show “Owning Manhattan,” then priced at $250 million. Extell slashed the asking price by $55 million last year.
“The original pricing on these units were headline prices,” Barnett said in an emailed statement at the time. “We have recently sold a significant amount of inventory at the top of the building and now want to get serious about selling these two showcase homes.”
Though Serhant can be seen in the series suggesting he was in danger of losing the listing, the property is still listed with the top broker and his eponymous brokerage.
Also on the market is another penthouse at Central Park Tower asking $150 million and marketed by Shlomi Reuveni and Reuveni Development Marketing and Christie’s International Real Estate Group.
Douglas Elliman’s Lila Nejad and Noble Black are marketing a $105 million listing at Macklowe Properties’ 432 Park Avenue.
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Residential
New York
Aman penthouse sells for $135M, tops Manhattan sales this year
Residential
New York
Central Park Tower penthouse closes for $115M
Residential
New York
$82M sale at Vornado’s 220 CPS is second priciest this year