It's the second business day of 2011, which means it must be time for the fourth quarter market reports from the major brokerages wrapping up 2010. This morning's headlines tell us that Manhattan real estate sales experienced steady growth, sideways movement, and a dip all at the end of 2010. We're a little dizzy just thinking about it. So we turned to the person we knew could help us out: market guru and Elliman report creator Jonathan Miller, who tells us that the story in the fourth quarter of 2010 is about the types of apartments that sold, not about prices.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, 18 percent of sales were studios and 40 percent were one-bedrooms, according to the Elliman numbers. In the same quarter of 2010, those numbers shifted, with studio sales down to 13 percent and 1BR sales down to 34 percent. But sales of 2BRs rose, from a market share of 25 percent to 37 percent. So even though the number of sales declined by 7.2 percent year over year, prices went up, from an average sales price of $1.296 million at the end of 2009 to around $1.482 million last quarter.
Not a bad showing considering that the fourth quarter of 2009 was actually Manhattan's most active fourth quarter in more than 20 years. But rather than a sign of a boom or a bust, the numbers for the fourth quarter show that the return to normal seasonal patterns continues. Happy New Year?
· Market Reports [Elliman]
· Guides & Reports [Corcoran]
· Market Reports [BHS]
· Market Reports [Halstead]
· Market Reports coverage [Curbed]
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