Manhattan luxury apartment sales just had the strongest week this year, with 34 contracts signed between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5.
More contracts were signed last week than in the previous two weeks combined, particularly in the "affordable luxury" market between $4 million and $5.5 million, according to a weekly report released Monday by broker Donna Olshan of Olshan Realty.
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The report compiles all contracts signed each week for $4 million-plus units in Manhattan.
The high number of contracts last week—34 in total—set a record for the first week of February from the time Olshan began tracking the luxury market in 2006, Ms. Olshan said in the report.
The number of contracts signed at the lower end of the luxury spectrum underscores industry experts’ current mantra: Demand in Manhattan is skewed toward less-expensive prime units. Recently, townhouses and apartments over $10 million have generally languished on the market unsold or taken dramatic price cuts. For example, only two townhouses found buyers last week and both went into contract for less than $5.5 million.
A unit at the Walker Tower Condominium at 212 West 18th St. also offered an example last week of the softness at the top of Manhattan’s luxury market. The three-bedroom, terraced unit was the second-most expensive contract of the week, signed at $11.495 million, but it took more than two years to sell and underwent a near-$4 million price reduction.
The most expensive contract last week was for two adjacent units in the famed Upper West Side Beresford co-op, home to celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld and actress Glenn Close. The 10th-floor units went in contract for $13.645 million.
In total, contracts last week consisted of 23 condos, nine co-ops and two townhouses.