Highest Q1 sales
Activity in 2009 across the U.S. in the luxury residential real estate sector slowed, even in Manhattan, traditionally one of the country's most resilient markets. In the fourth quarter, the average median sale price in Manhattan's luxury market was $3.78 million, an 8.5% drop from the year-earlier period, and 3.2% less than in the third quarter, according to research by real estate appraisal services firm Miller Samuel. Yet industry analysts believe a thaw may be in the works. In the last three months, brokers say the luxury market has picked up speed: More contracts for high-end homes are being signed and properties with bigger price tags are entering the market. Recent buyers include Ara Hovnanian, chief executive of Hovnanian Enterprises, and music-and-movie producer David Geffen. According to international real estate attorney Edward A. Mermelstein, "New York is a bargain, compared to major metropolitan areas around the world"—especially as prices have fallen as much as 60% since the peak in late 2007. Bloomberg BusinessWeek worked with Manhattan-based real estate information company StreetEasy to identify the 25 biggest residential sales in New York in the first three months of 2010. The No. 1 most expensive sale? The penthouse at Trump International Hotel & Tower, which sold at auction on Jan. 22 for $33.18 million. Other top sales ranged from a West Village townhouse to Gold Coast cooperatives. The lowest price on the list? A five-bedroom Chelsea condo that sold for just over $10 million.
Click here to see the most expensive real estate sales in Manhattan of 2010.
Note: The information is the most recent in StreetEasy's database as of late March
