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Lull Hits Manhattan Luxury Housing During Holiday Week

Time will tell if it was a temporary letup or an indication of slowing activity

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It's the lowest transaction week for homes priced at or above $4 million since the end of January.

Roberto Machado Noa / Getty Images
It's the lowest transaction week for homes priced at or above $4 million since the end of January.
Roberto Machado Noa / Getty Images

The holiday week saw contracts signed for Manhattan luxury homes drop to a meager 15 between Passover and Easter, according to the weekly Olshan Report released Monday.

It's the lowest transaction week for homes priced at or above $4 million since the end of January. Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty, hesitated to blame the lull completely on the two major holidays, she wrote in the report.

More:Get More Insight into the Manhattan Luxury Market on Mansion Global

"Totals in previous years when those two holidays coincided were more robust," she wrote. "Time will tell if last week marked a temporary lull in sales or if the luxury market is losing steam."

In a Friday blog post, real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller also offered a cautious reading of recent transaction activity.

"I’ve always been skeptical of the concept of housing momentum and now I’m starting to doubt that we will see this specifically in NYC," Mr. Miller wrote.

The first quarter, particularly the month of March, saw a boom in luxury transaction activity until a drop off in contracts signed over the past three weeks.

"While we are seeing more sales at the higher end of the market, that should not be confused with improving conditions in the typical sense," Mr. Miller said, chalking up the start-of-year increase to bigger price concessions and a post-election bump.

More:Luxury NYC Co-ops Have Busiest Week in Six Years

Nevertheless, the top contract signed last week was a history maker. The four-bedroom co-op at 1 Sutton Pl. sold for $18 million, making it the most expensive co-op sold in the Beekman-Sutton area when it closes, according to the report. The home, which has come on and off the market since 2010, offers views over the East River, a 32-foot living room and two staff rooms.

The second priciest contract signed last week was for a penthouse condo at 29 East 10th St., asking $10.25 million. The final price was roughly two-thirds the original asking price of $14.995 million. The unit has more than 4,000 square feet of space, five bedrooms and a rooftop library.