Halstead Property

Gregory J. Heym
Executive Vice President, Chief Economist
(212) 546-1069

Manhattan Condo Market Heats Up

By: Magdalene Perez -
Special to amNewYork

Manhattan real estate prices are soaring even as the national housing market flops, with condos averaging a record $1.5 million, according to a Halstead Property report.

Prices were buoyed by international buyers and Wall Street executives, especially downtown where the average three-bedroom or larger is going for more than $3 million, real estate observers said.

"The market reflects the safety and the appeal of the city to international buyers," said Michael Slatterly, a spokesman for the Real Estate Board of New York. "New York is a safe place to make an investment."

The sub-prime mortgage crisis, which hit hard nationally in the past year and has left many homeowners unable to make monthly payments, never affected the city at the same scale as elsewhere, observers said, though potential home buyers may experience more difficulty applying for a loan.

"There's a fear that banks will be wary and tighten credit on everybody," said Greg Heym, chief economist of Halstead Property.

National home sales fell by 3.5 percent in May to its lowest level since September 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In Manhattan, sales prices for co-ops were down slightly, averaging $1.1 million, primarily because smaller properties were on the market, according to the Halstead report covering the second quarter of '07.

While climbing prices in Manhattan and the other boroughs may be good news for buyers looking to invest in property, affordable housing advocates worry that middle-income buyers are being priced out of the market.

"This is a town that probably has several thousand millionaires," said Darwin M. Davis, president of the New York Urban League. "It's squeezing the average person's ability to buy a home and sustain the payments."

Buying an apartment in the city can range from around $150,000 for a one-bedroom Queens co-op to $30 million for a luxury Manhattan apartment. For more affordable properties, Slatterly recommended scouting neighborhoods such as Washington Heights, east Harlem and central Harlem, and in Brooklyn, Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Averages for Manhattan in second quarter 2007 Source: Halstead Property

Condo prices

$1.5 million

Co-op prices

$1.1 million

East Side four-bedroom $7.8 million

West Side four-bedroom $5.4 million

Downtown three-bedroom $3 million 

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007