Manhattan’s Luxury Segment on Track for Record-Setting Year

Driven by a healthy appetite for condos, Manhattan’s high-end buyers are poised to make 2021 a record year for the borough’s luxury real estate market, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. 38 contracts were signed on b

BY Realty Plus
Published - Wednesday, 22 Sep, 2021

Manhattan’s Luxury Segment on Track for Record-Setting Year

Driven by a healthy appetite for condos, Manhattan’s high-end buyers are poised to make 2021 a record year for the borough’s luxury real estate market, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report. 38 contracts were signed on big-ticket homes priced at $4 million or more—the report’s benchmark for luxury—in Manhattan and they were worth a collective $341.5 million. Those latest numbers pushed the value of the contracts signed so far this year to $11.1 billion, just shy of the record $11.2 billion total set in 2014 in its entirety, said Donna Olshan, author of the report and president of Olshan Realty. The success is a drastic contrast to 2020, when Manhattan logged its worst-performing luxury market in a decade, as the city grappled with the coronavirus pandemic. With its 38 deals, last week marked the 27th week this year that the market has registered 30 or more luxury contracts signed, and “what makes this stat even more compelling was that it reached that level in the week of Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays,” Olshan stated. The most expensive contract signed was on a penthouse apartment at the Jean Nouvel-designed 53 West 53 in Midtown. Most recently asking $35.4 million, the condo spans 4,928 square feet and occupies the entire 74th floor of the building. It has two bedrooms, a great room with 11-foot ceilings and views of Central Park and the Hudson and East rivers. The second-pricest deal last week was on a penthouse at 601 Washington St. in the West Village. Snapped up by buyers from Australia, the quadruplex condo was last asking $31.4 million. It spans 7,475 square feet and has six bedrooms, a number of terraces and a private elevator. Condos accounted for 31 of the high-end homes to find buyers last week. Contracts were also signed on four townhouses and three co-ops, according to the report.