The Reality of New York's Luxury Property Market

Last week, one of the most expensive properties of Manhattan got sold. This says a lot about the reality of the luxury market in New York. There are buyers resurfacing, but sellers and sponsors are yet under the shade.

The property, a townhouse at 14 East 11th Street was listed for $28.5 million in July and ended in a bidding war between three buyers, according to listing broker Jeremy Stein of Sotheby’s International Realty.

Even after the deal, reports show, that the deals are down by at least 30 per cent compared to last year. This shows that the sellers will be forced to lower their price. The owner of a 7,411- square-foot townhouse at the East 11th Street had bought the townhouse back in 2017, for $21 million and spent $9 million in renovations. While the sale price is unknown, it appears likely they sold it at a loss.

According to Olshan’s latest market report, last week, overall 16 deals were struck for Manhattan properties above $4 million. That is a slight increase than the dark days of lockdown when an average of four deals happened in a week.

Since the deals are price sensitive, one can’t draw a conclusion over the market situation yet.

Another property to go into contract last week — a four-bedroom unit at 221 West 77th Street. The seller was last asking $8.75 million for a property that he had purchased for $10.5 million in 2017.

As per Olshan any inferenec from a given set of data must be taken with a pinch of salt. One has to really dig deep to understand the implications and meaning of a particular set of data. At the end of the day real estate and especially luxury real estate is all about the price.

The townhouse in the talk has five bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms and three terraces. The listing brother for the deal was Brad Ingalls of Sotheby’s International Realty. He said the family who purchased it was from Brooklyn and had visited the townhouse approx five-time both before as well as post lockdown.

Patty Lehan of Douglas Elliman, who represented the buyers, confrmed that it was a great deal indeed and also expressed that it definitely made the property buyers feel good after prurchasing the home.

Albeit it looks like luxury real estate in New York is finally moving and the luxury property market is surely looking up.