Huge downturn for co-op and condo owners in pricey housing market. Number of sales ticks up as buyers with money take an opportunity.
The housing bust has finally clobbered super-pricey Manhattan home prices.
Reports released Thursday by four major New York brokers show that prices cratered during the three months that ended June 30.
Prices fell between 13% and 19% compared with the same quarter last year. The brokers found median prices that ranged from $795,000 to $849,000.
The decline shows a marked turn from the first quarter of 2009, when the year-over-year change in median home prices ranged from a loss of 2% to a gain of 6%.
Another change in the recent period: More people are buying.
The number of sales picked up by more than 28% in the second quarter, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Driving the increase were sales of studio apartments and one-bedrooms, both of which gained market share, according to Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal company, Miller Samuel, which compiles data for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“It’s value-based shopping,” said Pam Liebman, chief executive of the brokerage Corcoran Group. “People are coming back into the market, but nobody is going to overpay.”
Of course, in Manhattan “value” means studio prices that go for a median of $400,000 and one-bedrooms that fetch $650,000.
Brian Pearl 