When it comes to Manhattan real estate, timing is everything.
If you bought an apartment in the borough a decade ago, you should be very happy indeed: The average sales price in Manhattan in 2011 of $1,426,912 is a whopping 80% higher than the average in 2002, according to a new report from Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“The big message is: steady, steady, steady, safe, safe safe,” said Steven James, president of the Manhattan brokerage firm for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Of course, if you purchased at the peak of the market in 2008, when the average price for an apartment was $1,591, 823, you’re not as lucky. Prices are off by about 10%.
Even so, the report shows just how resilient Manhattan has been compared to the rest of the country, where prices are 30% below the peak reached in 2006.
“While the national market is still declining, Manhattan has been stable for two-and-a-half years,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, which compiled the Prudential Douglas Elliman Report.
In general, the more affluent an area, the more its real estate has held up, Miller said. Manhattan has also benefitted from limited supply and active foreign buyers, who have helped spur healthy sales at the high end.
In the latter part of the decade, the borough saw an uptick in sales among three- to four-bedroom apartments. Some have gone for dizzying prices.
Last year witnessed the record breaking sale of a $48 million condo at the Plaza Hotel to Russian composer Igor Krutoy. That was topped by Sandy Weill signing a contract for the sale of his 15 Central Park West palace for $88 million to Russian fertilizer mogul Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Another sign of Manhattan’s strength: inventory has remained steady over the last decade.
(Source: NY Daily News)
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2 Responses
If New York ended rent control in all forms, especially for Manhattan, and liberalized zoning rules, the prices of Manhattan apartments (and others throughout the city) would collapse, as would rents. Investors would build new housing and the increased supply would drive down prices and rentals.
Yeah, that’s what the have-nots (that is to say, the people rich enough to actually afford a market-rent apartment, as opposed to all the old ladies on small incomes who still live in the rent-controlled apartments) want to think.
The reality is, as was found when Boston decontrolled its rents, is that suddenly all the rents will pop up to the maximum market rent (why is it high in the first place? demand!), and the old ladies will be evicted and suddenly have to find somewhere else to live.
It’s a nice fantasy, but bears no relation to the reality that people with a commodity (housing) are greedy and will take all the market will bear.