Posted Jun 13, 2016, 2:08 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 52,246
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http://therealdeal.com/2016/06/09/ma...-back-to-life/
Manhattan’s luxury market is sputtering back to life
Sales volume recovers after brutal Q1, but prices remain subdued
June 09, 2016
By E.B. Solomont and Konrad Putzier
Quote:
After getting pummeled in the first quarter, Manhattan’s luxury condominium market looks to be getting off the mat. Brokers say they have seen a rise in sales activity since April, spurred by lower asking prices, stabilizing financial markets, and warmer weather.
“The real estate market winter was very cold, and then things warmed up again,” said Leonard Steinberg, president of the residential brokerage Compass. Sales at ultra-luxury apartment buildings like 432 Park Avenue have picked up noticeably in recent weeks, he added. In early May, for example, a penthouse at Macklowe Properties and CIM Group’s supertall condo tower went into contract for $76.5 million. And on Wednesday, Vornado Realty Trust’s CEO Steve Roth noted the sales office for his 220 Central Park South project “is noticeably busier than it was three months ago.”
Although still well below 2015 levels, the weekly number of contracts signed on Manhattan properties above $4 million has been steadily inching up since February, according to Olshan Realty.
.....While there are still plenty of overpriced properties on the market, well-priced listings — even big-ticket pads — will sell, according to Brown Harris Stevens’ Lisa Lippman. One of her listings, a co-op at the San Remo asking $24 million, received multiple offers and went into contract after a month, though Lippman didn’t provide the in-contract price.
And as prices fall, New York buyers who were priced out by foreigners in recent years are making a comeback, according to brokers.
“The first quarter was a ghost town,” said Sotheby’s International Realty’s Nikki Field. “In the second quarter we were saved and the white knights were the New York buyers. In the next week alone we are closing three prewar co-ops over $10 million with all local buyers, which for us is very unusual.”
Douglas Elliman’s Michael Graves said it’s hard to point to one reason for the recent “burst in activity” in the high-end market. But he reckoned that buyers who remained on the sidelines amid skepticism over where the market was heading simply got tired of waiting.
“There hasn’t been a whole lot in the tea leaves to explain why it hasn’t been as healthy and people are tired of waiting. They’re moving on property,” he said. The U.S. economy is in decent shape, he said, and while global economies are not – that makes New York real estate all the more appealing.
.....Donna Olshan, of Olshan Realty, said that luxury apartments spent an average of 275 days on the market in May – up from 211 a year ago. This, she argued, indicates many sellers have yet to accept the downward correction in prices.
“There are a tremendous number of overpriced units that are choking the luxury market,” she said, adding that the 57th Street corridor is particularly hard hit by oversupply. To claim that the luxury market has recovered, she said, “is overstating the case.”
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