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Monday, November 6, 2006
the corcoran report: third quarter/2006
download the corcoran report (3.9MB) This new edition of the corcoran report holds some interesting surprises and underlines the kind of mixed market we are experiencing. When compared with 2005 the average NYC sale price gained about 3% on 17 % fewer transactions, when compared with the 3rd quarter of 2005. Price per square foot was up about .5% overall. The mixed signals indicate that the sale of larger, more expensive properties, as the median price, or the most commonly paid amount for an apartment, increased 13% year over year.
Some sectors fared better than others as you’ll see in the report that follows. Townhouses and lofts saw increases in value, as did most of the downtown market. Three bedrooms and larger spaces saw a decline in median price but an increase in price per square foot, indicating that smaller square footage (read more affordable) homes sold better. Indeed, the luxury market of homes over $2.3M, saw a similar mixed metric.
My personal experience is that properties that are presented as unique are still sought after, and will go to contract quickly. Sellers with good, but more commonly available properties, need to adjust expectations a bit. The good news is that there is generally an excellent selection of properties for them too on the market. In fact, the biggest single factor affecting NYC is the marked increase in housing supply for purchase. It’s largely the result of new developments coming to market. For the first time condos are about half of the available inventory for sale; in a market place where cooperatives comprise almost 80% of the owned housing stock.
Interest rates appear to have settled and remain near historic lows. Wall Street has had an excellent year. The fundamentals of the economy remain strong. We are in the kind of marketplace that is a bit more sustainable than the overheated one of the past few years. If you are thinking of moving, please give me a call to discuss how your home in particular might fair in today’s real estate market.
