Olshan Realty just reported that contract signings for luxury homes in Manhattan dropped -16% during January 2019 compared to the same time period in 2018. Only 121 homes priced at $4M+ went under contract during the last week in January, “…a total that indicated we will end up with the worst January since 2012,” said Donna Olshan president of Olshan Realty and author of its recent report.
The specific value total of new January contracts came in at $60.545M, the lowest weekly total since the first week of 2014. No one listing offer asked for a price in excess of $10M.
The most expensive listing within this last week in January time frame was $9.5M for an 11th floor condominium in the pre-war Carl Fischer Building in the NoHo neighborhood. The listing was previously offered as part of a triplex penthouse but the single unit of 6,700 square feet was to be sold separately. Olshan described the listing as featuring a “cavernous open floor plan,” three bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and some 40 windows overlooking the city in all directions.
Brooklyn, in contrast to Manhattan, continued strong in January 2019. According to NeighborhoodX, the borough is seeing sustained growth due to significant employment clusters in downtown Brooklyn, Sunset Park where more than 6,500 new jobs are being added, Bay Ridge, Flatbush, Gravesend, Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
Not only are young, recent graduates flocking to rent in Brooklyn, celebrities such as Matt Damon are putting down their roots and record dollars ($16.5M according to property records) to live in Brooklyn Heights’ recently remodeled Standish Arms Hotel.
