As the city looks toward next year, the known unknowns loom large. The time line of vaccine rollouts is opaque. A proposed pied-à-terre tax, dreaded by everyone in the industry, remains possible. And the economic future of the city, the country and the world are up in the air.
But the city’s luxury residential market has enough momentum to make experts feel comfortable making some conditional predictions.
Suburb mania is over
“The way I think of the suburbs is that they had their moment,” said Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel appraisers. “The ‘fleeing the city’ narrative is already extremely dated.”
Sternlicht’s condo was the most expensive deal inked last week out of 17 luxury contracts that made Olshan’s report, which tallies Manhattan deals for homes last asking $4 million or more. A representative for Sternlicht did not respond to a request for comment.
Though last week represented a decline in luxury contract activity compared to the prior week’s 23 deals, the borough’s quarterly sales volume for homes of all sizes passed the year-ago level.
With two weeks left in December, sales volume of residential contracts above $4 million signed in the quarter was $1.87 billion, compared with $1.78 billion recorded for the entire fourth quarter of 2019.
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A rendering of 1228 Madison Avenue and 49 Greene Street (Photos via Robert A.M. Stern Architects; Google Maps)
Manhattan has recorded another strong week of luxury deals, as low interest rates, price negotiations and an uptick in buyer confidence bring energy back to the market.
In the week ending Dec. 13, buyers signed contracts for 23 properties above $4 million, up from 21 the week prior, according to data from Olshan Realty. The total consisted of 18 condos and five co-ops.
“What’s very interesting is the last three weeks we’ve had 57 contracts signed, which is a little better than last year,” said Donna Olshan, who tracks luxury sales. “Right now we are tracking to have as good a fourth quarter as last year.”