luxury market

This is the final of three articles today on the Manhattan housing market since last autumn. Read about the apartment rental market and the condo sales market.

Median prices for new-development luxury condos in three of Manhattan’s glitziest neighborhoods dropped substantially during the third quarter, according to a new report from research outfit StreetEasy (PDF here). From trendy downtown Manhattan all the way through the glamorous Upper West Side (and even midtown in between), median prices for top-tier newer condos declined quarterly by 29.1 percent, 31 percent, and 32.4 percent, respectively.

The Upper East Side was the only neighborhood with a median sales price increase among new luxury developments (nearly all condos), with a jump of 145 percent. (StreetEasy defines the luxury market as the top 10 percent of the condo and co-op sales marke; for this quarter, it included all apartments sold at $3.1 million and above.)  read more »

In an epic article today on why the super rich are still spending superbly, the Times wrote that buyers have "already closed on 71 Manhattan apartments that each cost more than $10 million, compared with 17 apartments in that price range during all of 2007."

That stat was already outdated by lunchtime.

According to city records, an 11th-floor apartment at The Plaza sold this month for $45,100,956, which makes it the second most expensive apartment ever to close in New York. It's behind only Harry Macklowe's massive spread four floors down at the newly renovated hotel, and slightly beats the even $45 million that scary hedge fund guru Dan Loeb just paid for his 15 Central Park West penthouse.  read more »