As 2023 came to a close, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin raised a glass at his company’s holiday party to toast to a thriving residential market in the new year.
“I want to make a toast to 2024,” Reffkin said from the DJ booth at a Midtown Manhattan venue. “To a moment in Q1 when you read a headline that says ‘With inflation under control, the Fed starts bringing down mortgage rates.’”
Nearly a year later, the executive’s hopeful prediction missed the mark. The year began with the housing market at large still plagued by the same issues that held back deal volumes in the previous year: high mortgage rates and low inventory.
For most of the year, sales in New York City lagged behind long-term norms. While inventory wasn’t as sapped as in nearby markets, listings with a price tag calibrated to the market were in short supply.
But by September, the Federal Reserve had finally delivered on its long-anticipated interest rate cut, with mortgage rates falling ahead of the announcement. The decision, and the build-up to it, brought necessary relief to the industry, with contract signings surging across Manhattan and Brooklyn from July and into October, seemingly undaunted by the upcoming election.
As the overall market navigated ups and downs, the city’s luxury segment soldiered on, gaining ground on highs achieved in 2022. This year brought the return of nine-figure deals in Manhattan, which hadn’t hit the city’s rolls since two years prior.
Two deals above $100 million crowned The Real Deal’s ranking of New York’s priciest home sales to close this year, which includes familiar addresses such as Central Park Tower and 220 Central Park South. Midtown condos, particularly OKO Group’s Aman New York, stole the show in 2024, accounting for all but two of the 10 most expensive deals.
Here’s a look at New York’s top deals so far this year:
730 Fifth Avenue | $135 million
Developer Vlad Doronin snagged the year’s priciest deal in the city in July when he closed on the penthouse at his luxury condo conversion, known as Aman New York. The founder and chairman of OKO Group paid $135 million, or $10,000 per square foot, for the 26th-floor spread atop the Crown Building.
The deal hit the city register six years after Doronin told the Wall Street Journal an Asian buyer had agreed to pay $180 million for the property.
217 West 57th Street | $117 million
Gary Barnett brought nine-figure deals back to the city in June when an international buyer shelled out $117.4 million for Unit 107 at Central Park Tower. The deal, which closed for roughly $9,300 per square foot, was a far cry from the unit’s $175 million asking price when it hit the market last year.
Douglas Elliman’s Fredrik Eklund, who worked on the buy side of the deal alongside fellow team lead John Gomes and team member Kent Wu, announced the closing in an Instagram post. Extell Marketing Group and Corcoran Sunshine had the listing.
220 Central Park South | $82 million
Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South landed back on the top deals list this year, though it didn’t capture the crown like in the two years prior. In June, units 63 and 18A sold to an unknown buyer for $81.5 million — a 30 percent premium on their original sale price.
Corcoran’s Deborah Kern had the listing, and Compass’ Darya Goldstein and Dylan Hoffman brought the buyer.
138-140 West 11th Street | $73 million
This Greenwich Village megamansion set a new record for Downtown Manhattan townhouse deals when it closed for $72.5 million in January. Though it reached new heights for the area, the whopping 12,000-square-foot, double-wide home fell short of the city’s overall townhouse record — $77 million for a property on the Upper East Side.
The seller was a company tied to Dexter Goi, the former CEO of telecommunications company Altice USA. Compass’ Joshua Wesoky had the listing.
730 Fifth Avenue | $64 million
Aman New York scored its first resale in July when Unit 23A sold for $64 million, or $10,000 per square foot — up from the $8,000 per square foot it logged in the sponsor sale four months prior. The developer’s in-house team, headed by Amie Buchanan, led sales at the building.
730 Fifth Avenue | $62 million
Hong Kong-based private equity executive Terence Chan bought a 24th-floor unit at the Crown Building conversion in an off-market deal in February. The chairman of Bay Area Capital Partners paid $61.6 million, or $9,800 per square foot — $12 million less than the asking price listed in the developer’s offering plan.
4 East 79th Street | $56 million
The estate of businessman and philanthropist Aso Tavitian sold this Upper East Side townhouse for $56 million in September, four years after he died at the age of 80. The sprawling six-bedroom home was also once home to wholesale grocer James Nichols, whose widow, Elizabeth, was murdered by burglars in the limestone mansion in 1915.
Sotheby’s International’s Serena Boardman and Susan Baker had the listing.
730 Fifth Avenue | $51 million
A deal so nice, it landed on TRD’s list twice. Before the seller flipped the condo, the sponsor sold Unit 23A at 730 Fifth Avenue for $50.6 million in March. The initial deal for the apartment, which includes four bedrooms and five bathrooms, was roughly $15 million less than the asking price specified in the offering plan.
217 West 57th Street | $44 million
Another apartment in Extell Development’s Central Park Tower ranked among the city’s priciest deals, even with a major discount. Unit 39B at the Billionaires’ Row supertall traded in September for $43.5 million, or $5,700 per square foot — down significantly from its $75 million initial asking price.
Douglas Elliman’s Janice Chang had the listing.
157 West 57th Street | $39 million
Rounding out the top deals of 2024 is the 86th floor of Extell Development’s One57, a 90-story supertall on Billionaires’ Row. The four-bedroom apartment sold to an unknown buyer in July for $38.8 million, or $6,300 per square foot.
Compass’ Jorge Lopez had the listing.