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Condo sales accounted for 56 percent of the housing deals closed in Manhattan in the first quarter of 2008. That's a striking percentage given recent history and the borough's housing stock.

Co-ops usually outnumber condo sales, though the two types of housing have gained a bit of sales parity in recent years. In the fourth quarter of 2007, for instance, condos accounted for 49 percent of the apartment deals and co-ops 51 percent, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. In the quarter before that, condos accounted for 48 percent. In 2006, condos accounted for over 49 percent of all deals.

Such percentages come despite condos representing maybe 25 percent of the for-sale housing stock in Manhattan. The rest are co-ops (or townhouses).

Yet, now, condos have pulled well ahead of co-ops. Why? Any number of reasons but two probably matter more than most: new-condo development and co-op boards.

Condos are easier to buy because of the lack of co-op boards; and condos generally require a lower downpayment than co-ops. Also, there are more condos than ever in the history of Manhattan to choose from. The pace of condo construction has been absurdly high as of late when compared to co-ops. Case in point: In 2005, the state attorney general's office approved offering plans for new Manhattan condos totaling more than 9,000 units. That same year 374 co-op units won approval.

Of course, all is not rosy for condos in their Manhattan ascendancy. Condos cost a lot more on average than co-ops; Miller Samuel reported that condos averaged a sales price of $1,981,802 in the first quarter compared to an average co-op price of $1,393,548.

And! The inventory of unsold Manhattan condos on the sales market has risen steadily since early 2007--it was at 3,325 by the end of March, an 11.1 percent increase from the first three months of 2007.

Joel Siegel's co-op at 82 Irving Place has been sold to an In Style editor Ariela Avram for $1.95 million, city records show. The tirelessly cheerful Good Morning America film critic died last summer at the age of 63 after a prolonged battle with colon cancer. His wife and the executor of his estate, Ena Swansea, signed the property deed.

Siegel had been fundraising for cancer research for decades before he was diagnosed following his first wife's death from brain cancer. He and Gene Wilder co-founded the first Gilda's Club cancer support group.

Doorman co-ops in Manhattan now average $1.37 a square foot in maintenance fees and non-doorman ones $1.22 a foot, according to analysis by appraisal firm Miller Samuel and reporting by The New York Times. The shorthand for co-op maintenance fees used to be $1 a square foot.

Last week's Observer broke the news that a poet and fiction writer named Georgia Shreve has agreed to sell her 1060 Fifth penthouse for $46 million, the biggest co-op deal ever in New York City. Rupert Murdoch, sadly, is now in second place.

City records filed last week and in August show that Ms. Shreve isn't moving far. She bought two penthouse units, plus no less than four storage rooms, at the East 87th Street condo Park Avenue Court. She paid $11.65 million, deeds show.

When first asked how it felt to be selling her old apartment for an unheard-of price, this is what she told The Observer: “Well, I feel nostalgic, because my kids grew up here. But it’s not a bad feeling to have it sell at a good price. I have bought another duplex penthouse with a great view, so I’m not that unhappy.”

Even better, buying in a condominium means Ms. Shreve won't have to deal with co-op boards. At 1060 Fifth, she spent two years trying to combine her two units in the style of 18th-century designer Robert Adam; her building turned the plans down.

The Wall Street Journal this morning asked the eternally burning question: Will Manhattan home sales drop like sales have been dropping in other markets around the country?

The Journal cites a Corcoran Group analysis which showed a 9.9 percent year-over-year September drop in the number of Manhattan home sales going to contract.

That got us to wondering: What do the borough's home sales usually do in September? The answer is they go up--or they go down.

The Observer looked at the last 10 fourth quarters of condo and co-op sales in Manhattan, as determined by appraiser Miller Samuel, a division of Radar Logic. The fourth-quarter numbers reflect closed deals from October through December--but these deals were made months before, including in September.

In five of the last 10 fourth quarters, the number of closed Manhattan condo and co-op sales dropped year-over-year, suggesting that the number of sales going into contract also dropped before the quarters.

Perhaps then it's not too surprising that the number of Manhattan home sales going to contract dropped year over year this September--the summer months are traditionally slower for signed contracts and sales generally pick up in the fall when would-be buyers return full-time to the city.

Still, make no mistake: As the Journal rightfully points out, the writing's scrawled all over the wall--jitters about the scope of Wall Street year-end bonuses; higher inventories of unsold homes; tighter mortgage-lending practices. The times are a-changing, but it will take more time for everything to shake out and for a serious look-back to be done.

For one thing, Manhattan is about to finish 2007 with an absurdly high number of home sales--over 10,000, a feat not reached since the late 1980's at least. And prices remain high, especially on the luxury end. The price-per-foot for luxury Manhattan housing hit a record of $2,009 in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, according to Miller Samuel.

So, now may not be the best time to assess the madness. Too many good signs mingle with the bad, and 2008 should be the year to take stock. Sit tight.

Once renovation on Rupert Murdoch’s triplex penthouse is completed, he’ll have an extra-large room for beefing up those willowy 76-year-old muscles.

According to a 2005 construction permit just discovered on the Department of Buildings' Web site, Mr. Murdoch is enlarging the existing exercise room in his three-level penthouse at 834 Fifth Avenue, which he bought two years ago for $44 million from Laurance Rockefeller’s estate.

The construction cost? Only $400,000!

“Sure, construction can be a nuisance, but it happens,” neighbor (and ex–Lazard Frères vice chairman) Robert Mezzacappa told The Observer in March. “People spend lots of money to live in the building, and they have a perfectly natural desire to have the apartment as they want it.”

Six-digit gyms are perfectly natural too.

Discount sale in Washington Heights!

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services announced today that they have the exclusive listing for what they are dubbing the “Washington Heights Co-op Package.” The package consists of 84 co-op apartments in five walk-up buildings.

The big news here is the price tag: $16 million for all five buildings. That boils down to $190,476 per unit. To put it plainly, it is a steal.

The full press release is below.

 

 

MARCUS & MILLICHAP LISTS WASHINGTON HEIGHTS CO-OP PACKAGE

IN NEW YORK CITY FOR $16 MILLION

NEW YORK CITY, June 19, 2007 – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has retained the exclusive listing for the Washington Height Co-Op Package, 84 unsold co-op apartments within five walk-up buildings. The listing price of $16 million represents $190,476 per unit.

Jack Botero and Peter Von Der Ahe, senior associates in the Manhattan office of Marcus & Millichap, are representing the seller, a private family estate.

“The Washington Heights Co-Op Package is an excellent opportunity for an investor to purchase five apartment buildings in prime west of Broadway locations,” says Von Der Ahe.

The Washington Height Co-Op package includes:

· 5-9 Pinehurset Ave.: The five-story, 58-unit building, situated between 177th and 178th streets, is built 78 feet by 50 feet on a 128-by-102 lot.

· 706 West 180th St.: The five-story, 13-unit building, located between Broadway and Fort Washington avenues, is built 53 feet by 86 feet on a 53-by-100 lot.

· 715 West 180th St.: The five-story, seven-unit building, situated between Fort Washington and Wadsworth avenues, is built 50 feet by 87 feet on a 50-by-110 lot.

· 712-718 West 175th St.: The five-story, 19-unit building, located between 177th and 178th streets, is built 50 feet by 87 feet on a 50-by-110 lot.

· 121-131 Fort George Ave.: The six-story, 40-unit building is built 56 feet by 129 feet on a 125-by-61 lot, holding 40 co-op units; 36 of which are free market and four are rent stabilized.

# # #

With more than 1,300 investment professionals in offices nationwide, Encino, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services is the largest commercial real estate brokerage in the nation focusing exclusively on real estate investments. In 2006, the firm closed $20.5 billion in transactions. Founded in 1971, the firm has perfected a powerful system for marketing properties that combines product specialization; local market expertise; the industry’s most comprehensive research and analysis capabilities; state-of-the-art technology; and established relationships with the largest pool of qualified investors nationally.

www.MarcusMillichap.com

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Parker Posey has officially sold her 1845 brownstone on East 10th Street for $135,000 above the list price, according to city records. The Observer's Max Abelson broke the news last month that the fourth-floor apartment belonging to the "East Village embodiment" was up for sale for $1.175 million and that Ms. Posey was moving to a $1.35 million co-op at 30 Fifth Avenue.

Today, a buyer named Jeremy A. Rossman (who is either a rocker or a lawyer based on a cursory Google search) paid $1.31 million for the indy darling's old digs.

At long last, steely Dateline NBC co-anchor Stone Phillips has sold his triplex penthouse at the Oliver Cromwell, an 80-year-old Central Park West co-op. Mr. Phillips’ six-room apartment was first listed back in fall 2005 for $5.5 million.

But, according to city records, Mr. Phillips 27th-floor apartment sold for a bit less--$4,350,000--to a fashionable buyer: Fred Gehring, CEO of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.

Mr. Phillips, a former Yale University star quarterback, apparently liked to watch TV. According to the listing with the Corcoran Group’s Fran Davis, his old triplex has three large high-definition televisions, plus flat-screens in the floor-heated kitchen and the top-floor dressing room and master bathroom too.

Besides its television, that bathroom also has a windowed shower, in which, as Ms. Davis wrote, you can “feel the summer breeze.” Classy! Likewise, the wainscoted 25.5-foot-long dining room has leather-paneled walls; the planted, 300-square-foot terrace off the middle floor boasts an outdoor sound system for view-drenched serenading.

Mr. Stone and his wife Debra, a New York social worker, have reportedly upgraded to a $4.4 million, 4,100-square-foot loft on West 19th Street. On the downside, the newsman will no longer awake to the sun rising over Central Park.