Ups and downs of Manhattan market
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 07, 2009 00:00
New york - In what seemed like a New York-minute, prices of luxury homes in Manhattan are falling. 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.
"Up through the end of this summer, there were almost two markets in Manhattan, the high-end and everything else," said Jonathan Miller, president and chief executive of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and consulting firm.
That all changed after Sept. 7 when the government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants.
"People started thinking the high-end market is just as vulnerable as the rest," Miller said.
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. The report defines the luxury market as the upper 10 percent of sales prices.
The market held up better for the merely somewhat-rich. The median price for all Manhattan apartments - $900,000 - gained almost 6 percent in the quarter, the report said. Another report from Brown Harris Stevens, also released Tuesday, showed the median sales price rose nearly 8 percent during the quarter.
But each report shows a weakening market overall. Inventory has soared and sales volume has slowed. And this is likely just the beginning.
"Most of these (fourth-quarter) sales were negotiated before Lehman Brothers collapsed. The anxiety has intensified. We'll see more of an effect in the upcoming quarters," said Gregory Hyman, chief economist at Brown Harris Stevens.
The luxury market started to totter in September when the stock markets tanked and major Wall Street firms started to vanish.
That all changed after Sept. 7 when the government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants.
"People started thinking the high-end market is just as vulnerable as the rest," Miller said.
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. The report defines the luxury market as the upper 10 percent of sales prices.
The market held up better for the merely somewhat-rich. The median price for all Manhattan apartments - $900,000 - gained almost 6 percent in the quarter, the report said. Another report from Brown Harris Stevens, also released Tuesday, showed the median sales price rose nearly 8 percent during the quarter.
But each report shows a weakening market overall. Inventory has soared and sales volume has slowed. And this is likely just the beginning.
"Most of these (fourth-quarter) sales were negotiated before Lehman Brothers collapsed. The anxiety has intensified. We'll see more of an effect in the upcoming quarters," said Gregory Hyman, chief economist at Brown Harris Stevens.
The luxury market started to totter in September when the stock markets tanked and major Wall Street firms started to vanish.