From the WSJ:
New York City Housing Prices Set Record
Manhattan apartment prices reached new highs in 2015, with the typical price of a co-op or condominium topping $1 million for the first time as the year drew to a close.
The new benchmark, in the fourth quarter, was a milestone in the rising cost, and for many the unaffordability, of homeownership in New York City.
Many brokers and analysts attributed the marker to a surge in closings at expensive new buildings that have been under construction for years, including many deals signed months or even years ago. The rest of the market showed more modest prices gains and slower sales growth.
Instead of celebrating the new benchmark, brokers described an alternative real estate universe in the second half of 2015: There were signs of a slowdown beginning in the summer, with a modest uptick late in the year.
The number of foreign buyers dropped, they said, while New York buyers became extremely price sensitive.
“There is more supply and more headwinds in the market,” with supply pressures varying from neighborhood to neighborhood, said Dolly Lenz, a broker in the luxury market. “Buyers have a whole lot of choices and they are voting with their dollars.”
The median price of a Manhattan apartment rose to nearly $1.1 million, an increase of 13.5% from $965,000 from both the previous quarter and the fourth quarter of 2014, according to an analysis of city Department of Finance data by The Wall Street Journal. The average price also increased to a record of $1.9 million in the fourth quarter from $1.67 million in the third quarter.
For all of 2015, the median price also set a record: $980,000, up 6.5% from $920,000 in 2014. Sales were up slightly too, by 2.1%, but below the sales pace in 2013. There were 12,872 sales in 2015, compared with 12,608 in 2014, based on sales filed with the city through Dec. 21 of each year.