The sale price for Manhattan apartments has skyrocketed 20 percent this year, a market report has found.
Manhattan home buyers paid an average $1.69 million in the second quarter of 2014, compared with $1.41 million for the second quarter of 2013, says the report from realty giant Corcoran.
But at the same time, there were 3,781 closed sales for the second quarter of 2014 — 10 percent fewer than the second quarter of last year.
The number of signed contracts was down 22 percent, to 3,593, during the same period.
“The lack of inventory drove prices up steadily, but buyers are balking at paying high prices that are not necessarily for their dream apartments,” said Pamela Liebman, Corcoran’s CEO.
The trend is likely to continue.
“While there is lots of new product geared towards the high end, the average folks will continue to have to work hard to find the right apartment,” Liebman said.
Brokerage firm Douglas Elliman saw the average Manhattan apartment sale price jumping 17.9 percent to $1.68 million in the past year, with 45.9 percent of all listings for the second quarter of 2014 selling at or above asking price.
Dottie Herman, Douglas Elliman’s president and CEO, says more inventory is coming on the market that will create more options and that she believes growth will continue but become more “healthy and sustainable.”
At Brown Harris Stevens, the average Manhattan apartment sale price soared 19 percent to $1.7 million during the past year.
The brokerage noted 45 closings over $10 million, an 181 percent jump from the same time last year.
At Halstead Properties, the biggest surprises were on the Upper East Side, where the average sales price for a three-bedroom or larger soared 51 percent, from $3.79 million during the second quarter of 2013 to $5.71 million during the second quarter of 2014 — thanks in large part to a record $70 million co-op sale.
The Upper West Side saw a 37 percent increase in three-bedrooms and larger, from $3.5 million during the second quarter of 2013 to $4.79 million during the second quarter of 2014.
That jump reflects the impact of a $48 million sale at 15 Central Park West.
Downtown also saw a double-digit increase — 18 percent — from $4.55 million during the second quarter of 2013 to $5.37 million during the second half of 2014.
“The larger apartments are what people are looking for,” Halstead CEO Diane Ramirez said. “More people are staying in town and having larger families. Big apartments are very sought after, and there aren’t that many. Year after year, that number jumps off the page.”
“That is consistent with what we’ve been preaching, that if you price your apartment well, you can get just about your full asking price — even in a rising market,” Ramirez said.
In addition, Ramirez noted, sellers are receiving around 98 percent of their asking price.