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Luxury Manhattan Homes Are Lingering on the Market

Properties are taking 30% longer to sell compared to last year

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New York City

Visions of America/Getty Images
New York City
Visions of America/Getty Images

Manhattan’s luxury real estate market has logged another encouraging week after a long and listless summer, according to Monday’s Olshan report.

Last week, 22 contracts were signed at $4 million and above, Olshan’s definition of luxury; only the fourth week to have 20 or more transactions since May.

But while sales are finally rising, it's taking an increasingly long time for pen to reach paper.

Luxury properties with contracts signed in September and October spent an average of 447 days—or more than 14 months—on the market, the report said, calling it "an alarming trend." That’s a 29% increase over the same time last year, when luxury property was spending an average of 346 days on the market. Total contracts signed, average price and volume are on par with the same period last year, according to the report.

Last week, the top contract signed was a penthouse at The Greenwich Lane on West 12th Street. It was asking $19.995 million, reduced from $22.5 million. The duplex unit is being sold by Heather Kerzner, the ex-wife of South African billionaire hotel magnate Sol Kerzner. It spent 126 days on the market, according to StreetEasy.

More:Harvey Weinstein Pulls Hamptons Mansion Off the Market

The second most expensive contract was a three-bedroom condo at the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South. Most recently asking $15 million, it spent 179 days on the market.

The total dollar transaction volume—though lower than the previous week’s celebrity sale-laden $198.5 million—was $163.34 million.