Downtown Drives Manhattan Luxury

Downtown drove Manhattan’s luxury home market, as the neighborhood accounted for nearly half of all contracts signed in the week ending Sunday, according to the Olshan Report published on Monday.

There were 21 contracts signed for homes priced at $4 million or more last week; 10 of them were in the roughly demarcated area of Downtown, four were in Midtown, four on the Upper West Side and three on the Upper East Side, said the weekly report from Olshan Realty.

Meanwhile, major luxury developments in Midtown Manhattan continue to command the highest prices.

The most expensive home to find a buyer last week was a half-floor unit near the top of towering 432 Park Avenue, priced at $40.75 million. The apartment sits on the building’s 93rd floor, where its new owner will get soaring views over the city, roughly 4,000 square feet of interior space, three bedrooms and three full bathrooms.

The second most expensive unit to find a buyer was movie producer Bob Weinstein’s duplex at the swanky Beresford on the Upper West Side, which went into contract last week for $26.5 million, according to the report.

Mr. Weinstein bought the two-floor apartment—which spans five bedrooms, six bathrooms and has three fireplaces—in 2004 for $20 million, according to the report.

Mr. Weinstein co-founded Dimension Films, Miramax Films and the Weinstein Co. with his brother, filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, who was forced out of the company amid dozens of allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

This is the second palatial Manhattan home Bob Weinstein has sold in the past year. He also unloaded an Upper West Side townhouse for $15 million in December, Mansion Global previously reported.

In all, luxury Manhattan contracts totaled $221 million, an 18% increase from the previous week, according to the report.

Activity in Manhattan was fairly standard, even lackluster for this time of year. House hunting and selling usually peaks in the spring and summer months, as was witnessed in Brooklyn last week, according to a separate report from Stribling.

Brooklyn’s luxury market, which the brokerage defines as homes priced over $2 million, saw its strongest week so far this year. Buyers signed 30 contracts for high-end homes totaling $89 million in the week ending Sunday.

Source: Mansion Global/Beckie Strum