Watch Contract Activity to see if this active season is panning out

David Goldsmith

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Price drops fuel bump in Manhattan’s luxury market
Largest two deals last week involved $5M discounts

Discounts and days on market.
That is what defined the biggest luxury deals in Manhattan from Aug. 17 to 23 as pandemic price drops offered a boost to an otherwise slow summer and moved properties that had sought buyers for years.
Contracts were signed for 14 homes asking $4 million or more, matching the total for the same week last year. The most expensive was a 15-room duplex at 655 Park Avenue, which was asking $12.8 million — down from $18 million when it was listed in 2018. The seller, Massimo Ferragamo, is the son of late Italian fashion designer Salvatore Ferragamo.

The second-priciest was unit 61W at 111 Murray Street, which went into contract asking $12.4 million. The property was originally listed for $18.9 million in 2015.

Discounts have been inconsistent in Manhattan’s luxury market since the pandemic hit, despite falling sales. Since the beginning of March, on average, $4 million-and-up homes for which contracts were signed had been discounted 14 percent from the original asking price and spent 633 days on the market, according to Donna Olshan, who tracks luxury deals in a weekly market report.

Many developers are holding on to pricing that ignores the pandemic and in some cases the de-inflation of the luxury market that preceded it.
“The market has got an anchor around its neck with overpriced properties,” Olshan said. “The ones are moving are the ones that reflect new market realities.”

Indeed, some deals offer a window into the tough realities of 2020 pricing. The Murray Street unit, for example, was dropped to $16.75 million in early March — before the state shutdown. In July it was lowered again, to $12.4 million.
Property records show the final asking price for unit 61W, a five-bedroom unit spanning 4,014 square feet, was significantly less than neighboring units traded for. Unit 60W, for example, sold for $14.9 million last June. Unit 58W sold last May for $14.4 million.

Jason Walker of Douglas Elliman, who represented the buyer, told Olshan his client “did not pay ask but got a fair deal.”
“He’s a local New Yorker with a family and he appreciated the views and amenities,” he added.
 

David Goldsmith

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"In July, new contracts for Manhattan condos priced between $4 million and $5 million were down 77 percent from the same month last year, according to a recent market report from Douglas Elliman. In the $5 million to $10 million bracket, contracts were down 39 percent. Above $20 million, there were zero."
Hudson Yards pad sells for $7M; cash-strapped MTA gets a cut
Deal comes as Manhattan’s luxury market struggles to gain ground

A luxury condo at Related Companies’ 35 Hudson Yards has sold for just under $7 million in an all-cash deal — a bright spot for the Far West Side development after months of setbacks.
The buyer is identified in the deed as David Rutter, the same name as the founder and CEO of blockchain technology company, R3.
Rutter went into contract on March 13, a little over a week before the state’s shutdown order went into effect. The deal closed on August 14. No mortgage was recorded at time of publication. Rutter did not respond to requests for comment.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is named as the seller. Related, which developed the luxury condo and rental tower with Oxford Properties, has a ground lease at the site. The arrangement means the MTA gets paid a share of the land value when a condo closes at the 71-story building.

Sales at 35 Hudson Yards launched last March. Since then, Manhattan’s already soft luxury market has been battered even further by the pandemic. In a June letter to EB-5 investors, Related cited “extremely challenging conditions for the sale of residential condominiums” as one of several obstacles it was contending with.

In July, new contracts for Manhattan condos priced between $4 million and $5 million were down 77 percent from the same month last year, according to a recent market report from Douglas Elliman. In the $5 million to $10 million bracket, contracts were down 39 percent. Above $20 million, there were zero.

Active listings at 35 Hudson Yards range from a two-bedroom unit for $4.2 million to a penthouse apartment asking $59 million.
 

David Goldsmith

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Staff member
West Village condo has the week’s priciest two resi deals
Units at 90 Morton Street collectively asking more than $40M

In Manhattan’s fickle luxury market, one big contract is an achievement. Two in one week at the same building, these days, is almost unheard of.
But a condominium at 90 Morton Street has defied the odds, recording the two most expensive deals last week, according to the latest market report from Olshan Realty.

The number-one deal was a duplex penthouse on the building’s 11th and 12th floors, asking $33 million. It originally went into contract last January, but the buyer backed out of the deal after the pandemic hit.

The 5,254-square-foot home has five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and more than 2,000 square feet of terrace space.
The number-two deal was a 3,537-square-foot unit, asking $9.45 million. The buyers of the “townhouse unit,” which has its own private entrance, are local New Yorkers, according to listing broker Shlomi Reuveni of Reuveni Real Estate.

The contracts were among 11 last week in Manhattan — one higher than the same period last year. Deals have fallen overall in Manhattan, with new condo contracts down 38 percent in August from the previous year, according to a report from Douglas Elliman.

But brokers have reported an uptick of late, as warm weather draws New Yorkers from their homes and more of the city reopens. (Discounts could also be a factor, but the extent to which these are being offered won’t become clear until the deals close.)

“I have had back-to-back appointments in the building in the last three weeks, Reuveni told Donna Olshan, who authors the market report. Reuveni added that the people are “affluent, mainly local buyers, and some are bicoastal.”

In the 11 weeks since Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifted the ban on in-person showings in New York, 103 properties above $4 million have gone into contract in Manhattan, for a total value of $794.8 million, Olshan’s report shows. In the same period last year, 153 deals were signed for a total value of $1.15 billion.

“I think things are down but there is more interest and more activity — definitely,” Olshan said.
“But let’s be clear, it’s going to be a spotty market until we get a vaccine.”
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Pricey Park Slope townhouses drive dealmaking in Brooklyn
Fifteen homes asking $2 million went into contract last week

Fall is starting with a solid set of luxury contracts inked in Brooklyn.
Fifteen contracts were signed last week in the borough for a total volume of $47 million, according to Compass’ weekly report on home contracts of $2 million or more.
The final week of August saw $34 million in luxury residential contracts signed across 13 deals.

The median asking price for homes going into contract last week was about $2.5 million after an average listing discount of 3 percent and 128 days on market. The contacts were dominated by townhouse properties with 13 such deals; just two condos asking at least $2 million found buyers.

The priciest property was a five bedroom townhouse in Park Slope located at 556 1st Street. The renovated home spans 4,960 square feet and features a music studio, a media room complete with a large aquarium, a chef’s kitchen and a 2,000-book library. Its last asking price was $6 million.

The second most expensive listing to find a buyer was for another limestone townhouse two blocks away at 556 Third Street. Last asking $5.1 million, the five-bedroom home comes with three private outdoor spaces, while its interior sprawls over more than 4,300 square feet.

Despite a slowdown in transactions during the pandemic, Park Slope property prices remain among the highest in the borough, with the average price per square foot in the enclave remaining virtually unchanged year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020 at $958.

The price per square foot for the First Street and Third Street limestone row houses was about $1,200.
 

David Goldsmith

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Staff member
Manhattan records 10 luxury deals in week after Labor Day
Weekly total is half what it was in 2018

The sparkle of Labor Day revelry fizzled out when it came to Manhattan’s luxury market this year, as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on deals.
Just 10 contracts were signed last week for properties above $4 million, according to the latest market report from Olshan Realty. It was the same total as last year, and 10 fewer than in 2018.
“I think every week is a struggle,” said Donna Olshan, who tracks luxury sales for her weekly report. “Hats off to any of these brokers who can get deals done at a high level.”

The most expensive deal was for a duplex condo at 27 East 79th Street, asking $12.495 million. The home has five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and views of Manhattan’s skyline.
Pamela Johananoff of Corcoran represented both sides in the deal. She told Olshan the buyers were a foreign couple who knew the developer. They had never seen the apartment in person, but decided to buy it after three virtual tours over FaceTime.

“These people always wanted something in New York,” Johananoff told Olshan. “They have confidence in the real estate market and so they thought this was a good time to buy.”

The second-priciest deal was unit 14A at the Beckford Tower at 301 East 80th Street. The 2,615-square-foot property was last asking $6.65 million, down from $6.9 million when it was listed last summer.

Barbara Russo of Douglas Elliman, who represented the developer, Icon Realty, said the buyers visited the property three times in February and a fourth time last week.
“They have been shopping around for a while, and they love the apartment,” she said. “We expect closings to begin in the first quarter of 2021.”

Manhattan’s luxury residential market is still reeling from the pandemic — particularly the ultra-luxury end — while other areas known for having more space and greenery, including Brooklyn and the Hamptons, have seen a flurry of interest in recent months.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Clinton Hill townhouse leads Brooklyn’s priciest contracts of the week
Five townhouses and five condos made up last week’s deals

After getting off to a strong start in September, Brooklyn’s luxury market experienced a slight dip in the past week.
The volume of high-end home contracts signed after Labor Day sunk to $33 million over 10 deals, down from 15 contracts totalling $47 million the week before.
Last week’s deals were evenly split between townhomes and condos, according to Compass’ weekly report on luxury home contracts of $2 million or more.

The median asking price across the 10 deals inked in the week following Labor Day was $3.2 million, with an average of 162 days on the market and an average drop in listing price of 3 percent.

The priciest property was a Clinton Hill townhouse at 141 Saint James Place. The five-bed, 4.5-bath property dates back to 1871, but was gut-renovated with a new kitchen and bathrooms. The two-family home spans 3,800 square feet and comes with two fireplaces and 11-foot ceilings. It was last asking $4.25 million.

The second priciest contract was a five-bedroom townhouse in Carroll Gardens that was last asking just over $4 million. The home at 380 Degraw Street was originally built in 1899 and spans more than 3,700 square feet. Original moldings have been preserved and the home has a landscaped rear garden. The home’s price per square foot — $1,100 — is in line with the average price for Carroll Gardens, which is one of Brooklyn’s most expensive neighborhoods.

Despite a slowdown in residential transactions due to the pandemic, Brooklyn’s sales and rental markets have generally fared better than Manhattan.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Manhattan home sales down 46% last quarter
With soaring inventory and depressed contract activity, borough is faring worse than its neighbors

Strong demand to buy homes and limited supply at a national level hasn’t trickled down to the Manhattan market.
Listing inventory soared in the third quarter as the number of sales in the borough dropped by nearly half compared to the same period last year, according to Douglas Elliman’s July to September sales report. It marked the second consecutive quarter that inventory rose.
On a national level, “Manhattan was the laggard,” said appraiser Jonathan Miller, the report’s author.
Closed sales in Manhattan fell 46 percent year-over-year to 1,375, compared to 2,562 a year earlier, according to the report. That’s the sharpest drop in deals since the second quarter of 2009.

The number of transactions in Q3 ticked up a mere 1.3 percent, compared to the second quarter of the year. That’s when the city was under lockdown and the number of deals plunged in what was the sharpest decline in 30 years.

The lack of Manhattan transactions supports the pessimism some in the brokerage community expressed as the city reopened in June.

But a dearth of sales doesn’t mean agents haven’t been busy. Listing inventory in Manhattan was at its highest level since 2009, when there were 10,445 units on the market in the first quarter and 9,378 in the second quarter.
Listing inventory in the third quarter of 2020 doubled compared to the second quarter. From July through September, 9,319 co-op and condo units listed for sale, compared to 6,225 from April through June.
The year-over-year increase in the borough’s inventory is also now at 27 percent.

The surge in listings, based on the current pace of sales, has extended the absorption rate to 20.3 months, up from 13.8 months in the second quarter and 8.6 months a year ago.
But an unexpected bright spot for the quarter was pricing. Prices rose in Q3 with the median sales price jumping 7 percent year-over-year to $1.1 million. Breaking that down by asset type, resale prices were largely flat, but new developments’ median sales prices increased nearly 18 percent to $2.9 million, from $2.4 million over the same period last year.
But Miller called the rising prices a distortion that reflects contract activity during Q2’s lockdown, where higher-priced homes continued to go into contract and subsequently closed during Q3 to drive up prices.

“Closings are still more anchored to the actual Covid moment,” he said.
Contract activity in Manhattan has remained low compared to previous years, and throughout the third quarter, the majority of new contracts in the borough were signed at lower price points.
According to Elliman’s monthly report on contract activity in New York and surrounding suburbs, 233 condos in Manhattan went into contract in September, down 52 percent from a year earlier. Co-ops were down 33 percent and seven single-family homes deals were inked. The low activity makes Manhattan, once again, an outlier compared to Brooklyn and suburban areas that include Long Island, Westchester and the Hamptons, along with Greenwich and Fairfield County in Connecticut. In all those areas, contract activity has soared, according to the report, which is also produced by Miller.

But Miller noted that the growth in contract activity is starting to plateau in most suburban markets. He attributed that to pent-up demand from the dismal spring homebuying season being met over the summer.
“The question is does this outbound migration continue and, if it does, how long?” he said.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Nearly $30M in Brooklyn luxury contracts signed last week
Buyers signed 11 contracts for homes asking $2M or more

The number of luxury contracts signed in Brooklyn last week rose to 11, a slight increase from eight the week before.
The total sales volume for the deals inked in the borough at $2 million or more was $28.6 million, according to Compass’ weekly report.

The median asking price for the properties was $2.49 million with an average listing discount of 2 percent. The eight properties spent an average of 128 days on the market. Of the contracts signed last week, six deals were townhouses, four were condos and one was a co-op unit.

The most expensive property to go into contract was a condo unit at 389 Bergen Street. Located in a circa-1910 building in Park Slope, the nearly 3,000-square-foot condo has four bedrooms, French oak wood floors and an ethanol fireplace. Its final asking price was $3.3 million.

The second priciest deal was a four-story townhouse in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The 20-foot wide home at 219 Jefferson Avenue spans more than 4,000 square feet with eight bedrooms and landscaped backyard. It was asking about $3.2 million when it went into contract.
Townhouses have been the most popular type of home among Brooklyn buyers in recent weeks, with more space both indoors and outdoors — and, typically, a lower price per square foot. Last week was no exception regarding pricing: the average price per square foot for the six townhouses that went into contract was $773, while for condos it was $1,443.
 

David Goldsmith

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Manhattan’s 11 luxury contracts are half previous week’s total
Fluctuations persist as market slowly rallies in “virus-dependent economy”

Buyers signed contracts for 11 luxury properties in Manhattan last week — almost 50 percent less than the previous week, a stretch that saw the highest number of deals since March.
The week-to-week drop underscores the market’s uneven path to revival, as high-end buyers slowly return to Manhattan but economic instability remains a concern.

“Every week is different and there is no trend line other than the fact that we are living in a virus-dependent economy,” said Donna Olshan, who tracks luxury deals in a weekly report. “I think the expectation is we are going to have a very, very choppy market.”
Luxury deals in Manhattan have been trending downward for several years, however the statewide shutdown in March squeezed the market so tightly that deals slowed to an average of just four per week, according to Olshan. Since the shutdown ended in June, deals have been averaging 11 per week.

In the past month, luxury brokers have reported an uptick in interest and activity, and several big-ticket properties have sold, including a $20 million penthouse at Related Companies’ High Line condominium and a $35 million penthouse at 421 Broome Street — both with sizable discounts.
But it may take some time for the market to get back to where it was: The current weekly average falls well below both the 2019 weekly average of 18, as well as the 2018 average of 21.
The priciest deal last week was a sixth-floor unit at 823 Park Avenue, last asking $9.9 million. The owner of the 4,184 square-foot unit bought it for $11.7 million in 2007.

Emily Beare of Core, who represented the family that bought the unit, told Oshan they had been looking before the pandemic but had put things on hold. They visited the property three times.
“They were uptown people,” she said. “It was the location on Park Avenue and the square footage that sold them.”
The second-priciest deal was unit 4W at 601 Washington Street, a BKSK Architects–designed building with just 10 units.
The condo now has two penthouses remaining for sale, both asking more than $30 million.
Brett Miles of Douglas Elliman, who listed unit 4W with Jade Chan, told Olshan that “good products in the West Village can survive any market.”
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
September 2008: 1525 new listings, 600 contracts signed
September 2009: 1827 new listings, 920 contracts signed

September 2020: 2196 new listings, 679 contracts signed
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Saying yes to less: A quarter of Manhattan sellers took a loss on deals since June

About 5 percent of deals in Brooklyn since the June real estate market reopening show a loss from the previous sale, according to data from UrbanDigs.
iStock

October 29, 2020 - 12:30pm
By Jennifer White Karp
Some sellers in New York—like those who need to get out of the city and can’t wait for market conditions to improve—are accepting offers for less than they originally paid on their apartments years ago.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow: Roughly 25 percent of all deals in Manhattan since the real estate market reopened in June show a loss from the previous sale, according to data prepared for Brick Underground by UrbanDigs, a Manhattan real estate analytics platform. The average loss was 10 percent, and higher-priced properties showed higher losses—for example, Manhattan properties over $4 million saw an average loss of 15 percent.
For today’s sellers, timing is everything, says John Walkup, COO, who created the report.
The contracts seeing a loss were mostly signed for apartments bought at the last market peak in 2014. However, as Walkup points out, a far greater number, 75 percent, signed contracts for a gain. The average increase was 34 percent, with properties below $2 million showing the most gains. Most apartments that saw a profit were bought in 2011, after the credit crisis and before the market peaked.
Walkup looked at contracts signed in Manhattan and Brooklyn since New York City’s real estate market reopened on June 22nd through October 27th. Looking at signed contracts as opposed to recorded sales does introduce a small margin of error of about 5 percent, Walkup says, because the actual price could be higher or lower.
“It would be awesome if we could look at when deals closed. But there is a delay of two to three months before deals are recorded in ACRIS,” he says. “Looking at contracts signed tells us what the last asking price was and gives a snapshot of the market at that point in time.”



Comparing pricing via new signed contracts is also helpful when market conditions are changing, sales are slow therefore generating few comparatives, and comps from before the pandemic are not useful.

The report is another indication that making money on New York City real estate is not a given, especially when there’s historic economic turmoil. Selling at a loss is probably something that happens more often than sellers care to admit. A previous report from Brick Underground using data from Street Easy found that one in five Manhattan apartments, priced from $1 million to $4 million that were bought and sold within the five-year time period of 2014-2018 sold at a loss.





A rosier picture in Brooklyn

UrbanDigs found that trends were different in Brooklyn, where just 5 percent of deals since June were at a loss from the previous sale. The average loss was 12 percent and was seen mainly for properties below $2 million. Most apartments and houses that show a loss were bought within the last four years.
The average gain was 63 percent, with properties below $2 million showing the most gains. Most properties that show a gain were bought in 2012 and 2013.

“The rising tide of Brooklyn lifted all boats,” Walkup says.
The month in which contracts were signed appears to have made a difference for Manhattan apartments. June saw the largest average gain (52 percent) and smallest average loss (7 percent). In Brooklyn—the largest average gain hit 67 percent in July and 66 percent in September and the smallest average loss hit 6 percent in June and October.
Neighborhoods on the Upper East and Upper West saw more moderate losses and gains than the more speculative market of Tribeca.
The Brooklyn market has seen Teflon prices in recent quarters. For sellers of properties over $4 million, which are likely all townhouses, there were zero losses.
Taking a loss on closing costs and renovations
When sellers accept an offer for less than they paid, they aren’t just taking a hit on pricing, points out Ari Harkov, a broker at Brown Harris Stevens. Sellers have to cover their closing costs and don’t see any return on improvements made to the property.
Closing costs are 2 to 4 percent when you buy and 8 to 10 percent when you sell—so if you’re selling for less than you paid, you’re getting hurt coming and going on closing costs, Harkov says.
“People are eating their losses from modest to very significant,” he says.
Perhaps more painful than the math is the blow to ego. “When someone sells at a loss, the market is saying, 'You made a mistake. You overpaid.’ It’s very public,” Harkov says.
Why sellers say yes to less
Brokers say there are good reasons behind that decision.
Some sellers have no choice but to accept an offer for less than they paid. They may be relocating for a job (and have a relocation package) or are not in a position to hold onto the property and become a landlord. It could be an estate sale, or a sale because of financial hardship, or change in lifestyle, like a move to the suburbs.
For other sellers, the decision may be more strategic.
“Some people are willing to take a loss because they see value in a new purchase," says Joanne Greene, an agent at Brown Harris Stevens. “If you want to upgrade, you can take advantage on the buy side.” That's if you buy now.
In that scenario, sellers who are looking to buy again in the same market cycle and are looking to upgrade will benefit from a steeper discount. For example, if a seller accepts a loss of 10 percent on a $1 million apartment ($100,000) and buys a $2 million apartment for 10 percent off ($200,000).
Some of Greene's clients have relocated and are selling now at a loss rather than keep something they aren’t using anyway. But if clients don’t have to sell right now, brokers are advising them not to, especially if there is no back up plan.
Nada Rizk, an agent at Brown Harris Stevens, says she has clients with a condo on the UWS that they bought for $5.6 million. They are putting it on for $4.8 million and don’t expect offers above ask.
“Buyers are going to come with discounted offers because there’s so much supply,” Rizk says.
Greene described a lack of urgency among buyers today.
“The sentiment is, ‘I love this but let me look around,’” she says. “There are buyers who have come out of the woodwork looking for a great deal. But prices haven’t been cut in half, they may be down 20 percent, so we get some ridiculous offers.
Sales are happening, but they are taking longer because of unrealistic expectations, she says. There’s bigger divide between sellers and buyers today on pricing
“It’s a lot more work to get to a deal,” she says.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
ManhattanLuxury Housing Closes Worst Chapter in a Decade

New signed contracts on homes $4 million or more have fallen to the lowest level since 2011​


Manhattan’s luxury housing market is wrapping up its worst year in nearly a decade, as the Covid-19 pandemic paralyzed the real estate industry for three months during the spring and caused a mass flight from the city’s more affluent quarters.
New contracts signed on homes asking $4 million or more sank by 31% compared to 2019, with such deals totaling 645, according to a year-end luxury market report from Olshan Realty, published Wednesday. And 2019 is a pretty pitiful benchmark, given it also saw depressed dealmaking as a result of new transfer taxes that went into effect halfway through the year. In fact, 2020 saw the lowest number of luxury contracts signed since 2011.

The slowdown is especially stinging considering rip-roaring luxury sales in almost every other major U.S. metro, according to a separate report on Wednesday from Redfin.

“Not since the bleak days of Lehman Brothers crash in September 2008 and the subsequent fallout into March 2009 has the Manhattan luxury real estate market experienced such an unpredictable and disruptive impact as the Covid-19 pandemic,” wrote Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty and author of a weekly round-up of luxury contracts in Manhattan.
New York City, once the nation’s coronavirus epicenter and where nearly 25,000 people have died since March, faced an extended lockdown, during which the real estate market was shut down for three months through June 22.

As a result, Ms. Olshan said, “The coronavirus blew a hole in the entire spring market.”
Sellers have had to react to the climate by offering some of the steepest price drops on record. The average home was discounted 12% before going into contract in 2020, by Olshan’s measure. That marks an increase from the average 10% price cut recorded in 2019 and is quadruple the average discount recorded in 2013.
The trophy home market was hit particularly hard during the pandemic, with the number of deals for properties asking $10 million clocking in at just over 100—down 42% from last year. Deals on eight-figure homes in 2020 were roughly half the five-year average, according to our analysis of Olshan’s figures.

Townhouses saw the most resiliency in 2020, not surprisingly given the explosion of demand for larger, single-family homes nationwide; 92 townhouses asking $4 million or more went into contract in 2020—down 19% from last year. Luxury co-op deals, meanwhile, dropped 40%.
Developers, strapped with inventory, were also hit. A little more than 200 sponsor units asking $4 million or more went into contract this past year, down around 25% from 2019.

There are signs steep discounts have begun to lure buyers with a longview on the Big Apple. Manhattan’s luxury market has recently started to recover to what might be considered a normal, albeit still unpredictable, level of weekly dealmaking. In the fourth quarter, there were 232 luxury contracts signed, three more than last year; a total fourth quarter volume of $1.87 billion in sales versus $1.78 billion in 2019.
Ms. Olshan was cautious not to project that strength into next year. “After all, we live in unpredictable and disruptive times,” she said.

 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

Manhattan’s condos get year-end sales boost as inventory balloons​

Deals over $5M jumped 36% in final quarter

Manhattan homebuyers are back.
Condo sales in the final quarter of 2020 jumped nearly 39 percent to 1,909, according to Douglas Elliman’s quarterly report on closed condo and co-op sales. The total compared to the third quarter, when there were 1,375 condo sales in Manhattan. High-end home sales also jumped.

While transaction volume is still down nearly 21 percent year-over-year, it has improved since the beginning of the pandemic. In the third quarter, deals were down 46 percent year-over-year. That compared to Q2, when the number of sales dropped more than 54 percent year-over-year, marking the sharpest decline in 30 years.

Appraiser Jonathan Miller, who authors the Elliman’s report, emphasized the significance of the October through December gains, noting the seasonal expectation for sales in the fourth quarter, based on 20 years of data, is an 11 percent drop.
“It’s going against the grain,” he said.

A surprising bright spot in the report was a surge in high-end condo sales.

The number of condos that sold for $5 million jumped 36 percent year-over-year, to 113. Meanwhile, the number of condos that sold for less than $5 million slid by about 16 percent year-over-year, to 789.
“I have to say I myself am surprised,” said Pam Liebman, CEO and president of the Corcoran Group, which reported similar fourth quarter results. “I think high-end brokers are feeling good right now.”

She also highlighted the increasing volume of signed contracts throughout the quarter, which could roll into early 2021. Beginning in October, the firm reported a 10 percent year-over-year increase in signed contracts; November saw an 8 percent jump; and in December there was a 3 percent uptick.
“It just goes to show you the resiliency of New York,” Liebman said. “So for those that counted New York out, sorry you lost.”

But just because Manhattan’s deal volume is improving, doesn’t mean all is well.
Price discounts have reached their highest levels in a decade, according to a fourth quarter report from Ryan Serhant’s new brokerage, Serhant. The report is based on market-wide data. Across the borough, the average discount on closed sales from initial asking price was 10.4 percent. For new development condos, the average discount was 8.7 percent.

For higher-priced units, the gap gets wider. The discount for homes listed over $10 million was 23 percent, while for new development condos it was 25 percent.
Then there’s the vast supply of condos and co-ops for sale in Manhattan. That total has also reached the highest level in a decade, with about 9,550 homes listed for sale. That’s 28 percent above the number from a year ago, according to Serhant’s head of research Garrett Derderian. (There are 18,000 unsold units when taking into account shadow inventory — units that aren’t officially listed on the market.)

Derderian said that at the current sales pace, it would take 6.6 years for the units to be sold.
“There’s a lot of inventory out there,” he said.
 

David Goldsmith

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Staff member

Greenwich Village penthouse once asking $50M sells for $14M​

Head of mortgage REIT and his wife snap up “wellness” property

A Greenwich Village penthouse has just sold for roughly half its original asking price — the second time that has happened.
Michael Nierenberg, the head of mortgage REIT New Residential Investment, and his wife Elin bought the penthouse at 66 East 11th Street for $14 million, the New York Post reported. It was listed in 2017 for $33.75 million, then went through a series of price cuts before the Nierenbergs scooped it up for a song — relatively speaking, anyway.

In 2013 the penthouse had hit the market with an eye-popping price tag of $50 million. It took three years for it to sell, closing at $26 million in 2016.
The triplex penthouse is located within the Delos building, known for touting so-called wellness amenities like Vitamin C-infused showers and circadian rhythm lighting. Deepak Chopra, who has a connection to Delos, and Leonardo DiCaprio both called the building home.

The apartment itself has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a private elevator entrance and a 2,300-square-foot roof deck complete with glass-enclosed solarium.
The Nierenbergs recently let go of another pricey Village property: Their townhouse at 20 East 10th Street, which was once owned by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, sold in November for $15.85 million. That was 13 percent below its final asking price of $18.25 million.

Nierenberg, late of Bear Stearns, Fortress and Merrill Lynch, in 2013 formed New Residential, a nonbank lender which provides mortgages to buyers who cannot get or don’t want conventional loans because of bad credit or other issues.
New Residential stock, like the price tag of the home Nierenberg just bought, has come down quite a bit. It’s worth just over half of what it was when the pandemic hit.
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member

Greenwich Village penthouse once asking $50M sells for $14M​

Head of mortgage REIT and his wife snap up “wellness” property

A Greenwich Village penthouse has just sold for roughly half its original asking price — the second time that has happened.
Michael Nierenberg, the head of mortgage REIT New Residential Investment, and his wife Elin bought the penthouse at 66 East 11th Street for $14 million, the New York Post reported. It was listed in 2017 for $33.75 million, then went through a series of price cuts before the Nierenbergs scooped it up for a song — relatively speaking, anyway.

In 2013 the penthouse had hit the market with an eye-popping price tag of $50 million. It took three years for it to sell, closing at $26 million in 2016.
The triplex penthouse is located within the Delos building, known for touting so-called wellness amenities like Vitamin C-infused showers and circadian rhythm lighting. Deepak Chopra, who has a connection to Delos, and Leonardo DiCaprio both called the building home.

The apartment itself has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a private elevator entrance and a 2,300-square-foot roof deck complete with glass-enclosed solarium.
The Nierenbergs recently let go of another pricey Village property: Their townhouse at 20 East 10th Street, which was once owned by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, sold in November for $15.85 million. That was 13 percent below its final asking price of $18.25 million.

Nierenberg, late of Bear Stearns, Fortress and Merrill Lynch, in 2013 formed New Residential, a nonbank lender which provides mortgages to buyers who cannot get or don’t want conventional loans because of bad credit or other issues.
New Residential stock, like the price tag of the home Nierenberg just bought, has come down quite a bit. It’s worth just over half of what it was when the pandemic hit.
Great buy
 

John Walkup

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
I sometimes wonder how the original asking price was ever approved. Even thinking 'let's put it out at X and settle for .85X' seems totally irrational in some of these cases. I would love to have been a fly on the wall during the pricing process.
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
I always figured in that price tier, its a "eh, lets throw it out at X and see what happens" type of thing unless the seller has a timeliness to trade
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

John Walkup

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Ouch! It's the same reason many people get burned when they buy from their neighbor to combine: a divergence between book value and market value. Market value reflects the intangibles which people tend to overestimate, while book value is what the actual selling price would be at liquidation.
 
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