As New York City Reopens, Luxury Home Contracts See a Small Jump

Manhattan saw the highest number of contracts signed and total sales since the pandemic escalated in the city 12 weeks ago

Source: Lucy Cohen Blatter, Mansion Global

With seven contracts signed and a total sales volume of $85.275 million, last week was the strongest so far for Manhattan’s high-end real estate in the 12 weeks since the pandemic began spreading more rapidly in the city, according to the weekly Olshan Realty report released Monday.

For the past three months, it’s been common to have two, three or four contracts over $4 million signed per week—the threshold for luxury according to Olshan—so last week’s numbers show a significant increase. Last Monday also marked the Phase 1 reopening of New York City—the last of the regions in the state to reach that milestone.

The No. 1 contract signed last week was for a three-bedroom on the 70th floor at 111 West 57th Street, also known as One57, which was asking $30.5 million. Amy Williamson, one of the listing brokers from Douglas Elliman, would not comment on details other than to confirm what was published in the The Wall Street Journal—that it was purchased by a foreign buyer who saw it off of pictures, floorplans, and a virtual tour. 

The No. 2 contract was for a townhouse at 20 East 78th St., asking $24.9 million (significantly reduced from the $38 million price it was first listed for in May 2016). The five-story house has a sophisticated security system, a vault-like panic room and even a hidden door, behind which stands a vault for shoes and bags.

The listing brokers were Carrie Chiang and Loy Carlos of The Corcoran Group. Mr. Carlos told Donna Olshan, author of the weekly report, that he could not reveal the buyer’s identity due to a non-disclosure agreement but said that he saw the unit several times starting in December. 

“We accepted an offer before lockdown and sent out a contract,” Mr. Carlos told Ms. Olshan. “For at least a month, the purchaser had to figure out when he wanted to close because if you want to buy a house, you want to be able to close and do work and that was not possible. What’s the point in rushing through a contract and you can’t close and do work.”

Rounding out the seven sales were two co-ops and three more condos. Interestingly, with the exception of one Tribeca condo, all the high-end homes in Manhattan to find buyers last week were on the Upper West Side or Upper East Side.

Filed under: Headlines by Alec Reimon
No Comments »