Insignia report: 3Q apartment prices mixed picture

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 31, 2001

Sales and prices of Manhattan apartments for the third quarter of the year show mixed results up and down, according to the latest Insignia Douglas Elliman market analysis. It describes a quarter that saw prices up from the same period a year ago and down from the second quarter of 2001 in a period that ended in uncertainty from the events of Sept. 11.

"The mixed results from the first three quarters of the year indicate that the market for apartments in New York has reached a plateau," the Insignia Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market Overview analysis of the third quarter summed up.

Comparing the third quarter of the year with the same period in 2000, overall the average sales price of all New York apartments climbed 8% to $849,194 from $789,225 last year, but was down 5% from the second quarter of 2001. Conversely, the number of apartment sales climbed 4% to 1,904 units, as compared to the 1,829 sales in the second quarter of 2001, but was down 9% from the third quarter of 2000.

"People who deferred apartment buying or selling decisions because of the World Trade Center attacks are beginning to return to the market, a good sign for a transition back to a stable marketplace," said Paul Purcell, President of Insignia Douglas Elliman, New York's largest residential real estate firm and a division of Insignia Financial Group, Inc.

"In view of the current economy, prices are projected to stay flat in the near term as long as demand outpaces the availability of Manhattan apartments."

The low inventory of apartments, coupled with the stimulus of Federal Reserve rate cuts, have resulted in "a state of relative equilibrium" for the residential real estate market, the Manhattan Market Overview pointed out, a "market resiliency" that should be regarded with "caution" because of the shifting economy.

Conceding the uncertainty created by the Twin Towers attacks in the last 21 days of the third quarter, the Insignia Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market Overview said its analysis, considered the most comprehensive offered by a New York real estate firm, "provides an indication of where the market was heading prior to the attack. The results may take on additional relevance as uncertainty eases and consumer confidence improves." Currently, there isn't enough data "to measure post-attack market conditions." The Manhattan Market Overview is prepared for Insignia Douglas Elliman by the independent appraisal firm of Miller Samuel, Inc.

Compared to the previous quarter, average sales price of Manhattan coops hit $718,575 in the third quarter, up 6% from third quarter 2000 but down 3% from the second quarter this year, the Manhattan Market Overview reported. Average, price per room, however, reached $153,217, 12% above last year at this time and 4% more than the previous quarter.

Average sales price for this category (multi-bedroom apartments on Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue and Central Park West), was up 21% from the previous quarter to $2,483,247. The number of sales, at 109 for the quarter, declined by 18% from the third quarter of last year.

At $704 per SF, it was the third consecutive quarter the $700 per SF "threshold" was reached. The current average sales price of New York condos is $1,081,169, 13% above the average last year at the time, and comparable to the $1,091,230 and $1,025,697 prices, respectively, for the first two quarters of 2001. The 684 condo sales in the quarter, however, were 31% fewer than the 993 transactions in the second quarter of this year.

The Manhattan Market Overview also reported:

* It took an average of 128 days to market Manhattan coops and condos in the third quarter of 2001, four days fewer than the previous quarter and seven days longer than in third quarter 2000.