Real estate broker Adam Modlin stands inside his recent sale, 8 East 62nd St.
Dreaming of a sunny two-bedroom near Central Park? An East Village townhouse? Or just a simple apartment to call your own?
Who isn’t? But for many of us for many years, these dreams have been out of reach. Now the tides may be turning, according to a new real estate study by Streeteasy, a website that tracks real estate trends.
The good news: there are a lot of property owners asking a lot less than they were. 4,300 listings in Manhattan – that’s about 33% of available listings – had price cuts this quarter, while only 133 listings had price increases – that’s 74% fewer than last quarter.
The downtown and midtown markets as a whole saw the most cuts. Co-ops had 34.1% more price cuts than in the last quarter and condos had 42.3% more.
Here are some of their key findings:
Manhattan neighborhoods with the most price cuts
These neighborhoods have seen the highest percentage of sellers cutting prices from quarter three to quarter four 2008:
-
Beekman – 50.6% of listings cut prices
-
Manhattan Valley – 45.7%
-
East Village – 43.1%
-
Central Park South – 41.9%
-
SoHo – 41.7%
The average price discount in these neighborhoods was between 8 – 10 percent.
“The increase in price cuts are the sellers’ reaction to current market conditions; they are finally realizing that they must offer an attractive deal to make things happen,” said Sofia Kim, Vice President of Research for Streeteasy. “Motivated sellers know that they must move their pricing in order to have success in today’s market. Right now, many incentives are being worked into deals.”
Manhattan neighborhoods with the deepest price cuts
These neighborhoods have seen the most significant price cuts from quarter three to quarter four 2008:
-
Clinton – 10.93% average discount
-
Tribeca – 10.83%
-
Flatiron – 10.35%
-
Central Harlem – 8.58%
-
East Harlem 9.98%
John Gasdaska, Vice President of the Corcoran Group, said that great deals abound in this market. He especially likes the deals on the west side – between Central Park West and Riverside Drive – from the 60s up to the 80s.
Case in point: He is listing two properties with prices that have dropped by hundreds of thousands of dollars. A 1200-square-foot one-bedroom property on West 75th Street has dropped from $1,075,000 to $795,000.
No matter the neighborhood, keep an eye on the luxury market for deals
(if you can afford these places, even with the discounts!)
The median sales price of a luxury apartment slipped nearly 4 percent to $4,022,000 between October and December compared with the same period a year ago, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman’s quarterly report released Tuesday, as reported by the Associated Press. The report defines the luxury market as the upper 10 percent of sales prices.
“You’ve got a market where suddenly people don’t have the wealth they had before. Those who helped to build Wall Street to the stratosphere don’t know what their futures look like now,” Rick Goodwin, publisher of Ultimate Homes, told the Associated Press.
Nearly 42 percent of the 259 Manhattan homes currently listed for $10 million or more were dumped on the market since September, according to StreetEasy.com.
Last year, 69 sellers with properties listed for $10 million or more cut their prices — 59 of them were in September or after. There were only 17 price increases last year, according to StreetEasy.com.
One penthouse owner on Central Park West repeatedly slashed the asking price down to $9.9 million from an original $16.5 million — and still no takers.
Flippers at 15 Central Park West, dubbed the “Hedge Fund building,” and other new condo buildings like The Plaza and Trump Park Avenue are trying to unload their investments, according to the Associated Press.
Last year, 69 sellers with properties listed for $10 million or more cut their prices — 59 of them were in September or after. There were only 17 price increases last year, according to StreetEasy.com.
“Those who can afford to buy these properties, they’re thinking it doesn’t feel right to put $20 million into real estate right now,” Goodwin said.
And without willing buyers, sellers will have to cut their prices even more.
