Condos Leading the Charge in NYC, 6 out of 8 areas increase

A report just came out from Radar Logic (covered in WSJ) regarding current trends in Condo sales.  It appears that these have been relatively strong year over year, both with a slight increase in cost per square foot, but more significantly with a near doubling of actual sales.

The biggest gain comes from the financial district.  This of course makes the most sense as the current economic crisis really started in the financial district, and when many lost their jobs or bonuses they had to sell quickly, and soon enough the abundance of property drove the costs down.  Of course any basic knowledge of supply/demand will tell you, the ‘bargain’ apartments have since been getting swooped up, which has made a net increase of 35% in the cost per square foot in the FD.

The East Village, still an up-and-coming area of lower Manhattan has seen a dip in the last year in cost per square foot.  Part of this may be to the spate of new development condos that shot up in the later part of the mid 2000s, which were sold at a fairly high point in the market.  Since then people are trying to sell in the area but are having to come to terms with lower prices than what they paid for, and the costs is therefore receding.  Don’t count the East Village out by any means, there is still a steady influx of new restaurants and services and in 30 years there may be a 2nd ave subway coming near (how I like to make myself laugh).

Expect condos to continue to gain strength as their flexibility for renting out and easier resale is a draw for many new buyers and people purchasing 2nd or more properties.