New Dev, Trophy Sales Boost Manhattan Luxury Market In 2024

Manhattan’s luxury market picked up steam in 2024, powered by new development and trophy property sales.

Buyers signed close to 1,300 contracts for homes in the borough asking $4 million or more this year, up nearly 9 percent from 1,200 in 2023, according to Olshan Realty’s year-end report. Sales volume during the period reached more than $11 billion, compared to less than $10 billion the year prior, with the average asking price up 4 percent annually.

New development condos drove the uptick in signed contracts, as new buildings launched sales this year and brought much-needed inventory to the market.

“New development has outperformed resale by a lot, and that has everything to do with specific projects launching during a specific time,” said Corcoran Sunshine president Kelly Mack.

She added that “there’s been a handful of notable launches” that “people really want to live in, and the pricing is calibrated to the realities of the market today.”

The report points to a handful of buildings across the Upper East and Upper West sides, including Naftali Group’s projects at 255 East 77th Street and the Henry at 211 West 84th Street, both of which are still under construction. Naftali launched sales for the two condos in the fall, with Compass’ development marketing arm, led by top-producing broker Alexa Lambert, at the helm.

The pair of developments, along with Related Companies’ West Chelsea project known as the Cortland, pushed Manhattan’s new development market to a 2024 peak in October. Together, the buildings accounted for more than half of luxury new development contract signings that month.

Also spurring new development activity is Elad Group’s 42-unit development at 201 East 74th Street, known as the 74, and the Reuben Brothers’ the Surrey Residences, which have routinely landed among the borough’s top pending deals in weekly contract reports.

Last month, the hotel-condo conversion on 76th Street scored a signed contract for Unit 15A with an asking price of $26 million. All but one of the building’s 14 condo units have found buyers since sales launched this summer.

Overall, condos significantly outsold co-ops, while townhouse deals stayed flat.

This year also brought nine-figure deals back to New York City after more than a year without the headline-catching sales. Sales over $100 million at Extell Development’s Central Park Tower and OKO Group’s Aman New York crowned the city’s priciest deals in 2024.

“The top of the market is having a moment,” appraiser Jonathan Miller told The Real Deal in July, after Vlad Doronin closed on an apartment at his Midtown development for $135 million.

Trophy sales, defined as deals at $10 million or above, also rose this year by 38 contracts and cemented 2024’s place as the year with the second largest number of trophy sales since Olshan started tracking data in 2006. The report pins the jump in trophy sales on the rise of wealth among the top 1 percent.

“Unsurprisingly, the rich got richer,” Donna Olshan wrote in her firm’s report. “Without question, the luxury market has been powered by huge gains in the stock market and the anticipation of a bumper bonus season.”