Despite fewer home sales, the average price of a New York
City apartment has been pushed up by very wealthy buyers.
Sales like the $92 million apartment at 220 Central Park
South last December have skewed the numbers, according to the latest data.
“New luxury development has a significant impact on the
market,” said Laura Tomana, senior economist at the Real Estate Board of New
York. “You have to take that into account when you’re looking at average
numbers.”
According to the REBNY Residential Sales report for Q4 2019
released today, the average price of a city apartment was $985,000.
While the price went above $1 million throughout much of
2019, that’s still a five percent increase year over year from Q4 2018 when it
was $938,000. The five-year average is $949,000 and five years ago (Q4 2014)
the average citywide home was $841,000.
At 220 Central Park South alone, where units go for
$35,000-$10,000 psf, there were 22 closings last quarter. The quarter before,
there was one closing for $122 million. Earlier last year, hedge funder Ken
Griffin paid a record breaking $238 million for a penthouse there.
If 220 CPS were removed from the equation, the average
price of a home in New York City last quarter would have been $910,000 ($75,000
less).
At the same time, the total amount of money paid for home
sales has declined to $9.9 billion – its lowest since Q4 2014. This is a 4.5
percent decrease year-over-year.
However, Tomana said REBNY is optimistic about the sales market based on a recent report it issued on broker confidence.
“We’re seeing renewed confidence from brokers about the
year ahead,” she said.
Additionally, recent reports compiled by brokerages have
indicated home sales are inching their way back up.
In terms of unit types, condos did better last quarter than
co-ops and one-to-three family homes and the reason for this, REBNY found, is a
supply issue.
There are simply more new condos and not many new co-ops
and one-to-three family homes. Money paid for condos went up by nine percent
year-over-year to $3.5B and average price went up by 10 percent.
Co-op sales declined in terms of the amount paid by 25
percent year-over-year to $1.8B. The average sales price of such units citywide
decreased 10 percent to $688K. Staten Island is the only borough that
experienced an increase in total sales consideration (20 percent), while
transactions declined 17 percent year-over-year citywide.
The total amount paid for one-to-three family dwellings
declined 15 percent year-over-year to $4.5B. The average sales price of such
units decreased one percent to $833K. Manhattan was the borough with the
greatest decline in average sales price, falling by 29 percent over the period
while Brooklyn experienced a decline of eight percent. The average sales price
remained relatively flat in the other three boroughs.
The REBNY report also shows that the amount of money for
all the sales last quarter declined in every borough except the Bronx where it
remained flat. Manhattan declined by two percent, Brooklyn by five percent,
Queens by six percent, and Staten Island by 19 percent.
Citywide residential transactions decreased year-over-year
by nine percent with a total 10,057 transactions – the lowest since Q1 2013.
The total number of transactions also declined in each of the five boroughs.
Overall, transactions declined for homes valued at every
price level. The volume of transactions for units under $1M declined by 10
percent. For units ranged $1M-$3M, the number of transactions decreased by four
percent, while transactions in the $3M-$5M range decreased by 14 percent. Units
over $5M decreased by 36 percent.
“New York’s residential market continues to adjust
to a changing landscape,” said Paimaan Lodhi, Senior Vice President at
REBNY. “Although citywide residential sales fell nine percent last quarter
from the previous year, New York’s economy remains strong and we expect the
market to stabilize.”
