Condo resale prices are at a record high in Manhattan — but price growth is expected to remain essentially flat this summer.
According to StreetEasy’s Condo Price Index, the value of condos sold in Manhattan during May was 11.6 percent above the market’s previous peak in September 2007.
With only 3,778 units on the market, May 2015 offered the lowest number of available condo units recorded during any May month spanning the last five years.
Total inventory declined 2.8 percent from April and was down 7.4 percent from May of last year. In the face of shrinking inventory, condo buyers have been eager to act and ready to pay high prices.
“We’re looking at a market that is ripe for bidding wars,” said Alan Lightfeldt, data scientist at StreetEasy. “As supply continues to shrink and sellers hold on to the bargaining power, condo buyers can expect competition to remain fierce.”
The Midtown West and Lower East Side submarkets saw sale-to-list-price ratios of 100.1 percent and 104.9 percent, respectively. This indicates that the vast majority of condo sales closed sold at prices above the initial asking price.
On average, a Manhattan condo sold for 99.4 percent of the initial asking price in May. StreetEasy expects prices to stick around current levels as the market enters the slower summer months.
Lack of new inventory also translated into an overall drop in contracts signed in May. Pending sales, or condos that went into contract, fell 6.7 percent from April and were 9.4 percent below this same time last year.
Additionally, condos spent a median of 43 days on the market, six days less than April and one day less than May 2014.
Demand for newly built condos in Manhattan appears solid. 50 West, a 191-residence building that has yet to be completed, is 50 percent sold with nonpenthouse homes selling for roughly $2,400 per square foot.
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