2nd Quarter Wrap-Up – NYC Market Takeaways

Our 2nd quarter market report

gives plenty of data points, but I’ll offer a few highlights and some takeaways, both

from the report and not:

2nd Quarter Market Takeaway

• The quarter’s

  topline “average price,” 19% higher,

  year over year, is essentially meaningless.

  This average

  is too

  skewed by a few very large transactions.

• In neighborhoods

  with little condominium product, condo and cooperative pricing are showing similarity, at the high end.

  That’s to say – in cooperative buildings vs. very well done condominiums, we’re seeing parity.

• The number of closings is up 9%, year over year, and condominiums continue to sell briskly.

  Inventory levels remain incredibly low, and the average time on market (to

  go

  into contract) is 83 days, which hasn’t changed much in the last few months.

  While we’re seeing sale price appreciation in cooperatives, too, the pricing of condominiums is extraordinary, pushing to $1700 per square foot on average.

• For condos, $2000 per square foot has become relatively standard as a starting point for new construction.

  While this

  includes the

  factor of the very high end, a great deal of condominium product is selling for more than $1300 per square foot.

• Since there are so few three-bedrooms, one- and two-bedrooms are seeing the highest volume, essentially showing, finally, a full recovery of the entire NYC housing market.
• Upper Manhattan numbers remain very strong, so I’ll disagree with the 2nd quarter reporting on Harlem.

  There is but a scintilla of listings, and pricing has pushed up to new highs, as far as I can tell.

• In my

  new development post, I’ll

  discuss the level of building happening across town, but – 2500 permits were issued in the

  first 5 months of 2014, the most for new construction since 2007, which

  augurs well for the crane business and construction trades. Still,

  I’m not sure it will help inventory supply where it’s needed: too

  much of this supply remains limited either to rental construction or super luxury.

  Essentially, no respite in sight in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

• Lastly, Downtown reached a tipping point at some point over the last 6-12 months.

  South of 34th Street has become a go-to destination internationally and domestically for a much broader set of buyers.

  Marvelous and record setting prices await.