The Corcoran Group, a leader in New York, Palm Beach and Hamptons’ real estate, reported tremendous growth in home-sale prices for the first six months of 2004.
According to The Corcoran Report, average sale prices for condominiums and co-ops in Manhattan were up 38 percent for condominiums and 19 percent for co-ops. In the first half of 2004, buyers paid an average $1.23 million for condominiums and close to $900,000 for co-ops. Helping move prices upward were multiple new condominium projects on the east side, which saw a 60 percent increase in the average sale price for condominiums to $1.4 million.
High demand for apartments with three or more bedrooms sparked a buying frenzy the first two quarters of 2004. Three-plus bedroom condominiums sold for close to $3 million on average, a 32 percent hike from the first half of 2003. Three-plus bedroom co-ops sold for an average $2.5 million, an 8 percent increase over the same period last year.
“This has been a monumental time in the history of real estate,” said Pamela Liebman, president and chief executive officer for Corcoran. “Record low interest rates, record Wall Street earnings and low inventory made home-buying a sensible, worthwhile and impressive purchase and allowed a great number of people to realize the American dream of home ownership.”
In the first half of 2004, Brooklyn continued to attract buyers and new development, driving average sale prices further north. Marketwide, Brooklyn saw a 16 percent increase in average sale prices. On average, New York’s largest borough saw single-family homes surpass the $1.5 million mark, up 18 percent over the same period in 2003.
Average sale prices were especially significant in Boreum Hill and Fort Greene the first half of 2004, where average sale prices grew by 30 percent over the first half of 2003.
During the last six months, average sale prices for Palm Beach, Fla., homes in the $5 million and above luxury-home market increased more than 12 percent from $6.6 million in 2003 to $7.4 million this year. The average sale price for single-family homes in all price categories grew dramatically to more than $1 million, a 43 percent rise. Marketwide, demand for primary, secondary and investment properties is on the rise. The Corcoran Group Palm Beach reports that in the first half of 2004, the combined average sale price for single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes was more than $800,000, a 33 percent increase from last year.
Townhomes in Palm Beach proved tremendously desirable over the last six months as average sales prices surged more than 30 percent from $522,000 in 2003 to nearly $700,000 this year.
On Long Island’s East End, the first six months of 2004 saw average sale prices on the South Fork jump from $922,000 in 2003 to $1.2 million this year. That figure follows recently released data for year-end 2003, which showed a 20 percent rise in average sale prices over 2002 on the South Fork and a 25 percent year-over-year increase in average sale prices on the North Fork.
The Corcoran Group, a member of the NRT family of companies, is the largest residential real estate brokerage company in New York City, with 45 offices and more than 2,150 sales associates and employees in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Hamptons, Shelter Island, the North Fork, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla.
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