In Manhattan, condos and co-ops were almost evenly matched in market share. Condos enjoyed 51% of the spoils while co-ops had 49%. There was little dispute where most of the action was — Downtown which, due to the numerous new developments, dominated the market with 29% of the contracts signed, followed closely by the Upper East and Upper West Sides with 20% and 19% of the market share respectively.
Huge Year-Over-Year Gains
The median asking price for a January contract was $1.257M, up from $1.039 million a year ago, marking a massive 21.1% increase. Getting specific, condos enjoyed a 10.5% median increase and 16.2% increase in price per square foot, while co-ops saw a 16.9% increase and a 10% price per square foot.
Particularly buoyant was the luxury sector with 102 contracts signed over $4 million, making it one of the strongest Januarys on record.
There were several high-priced Manhattan deals throughout January, including the following:
- 53 Downing Street, Greenwich Village (townhouse): $15.7 million
- 1107 Fifth Avenue (co-op): $35 million
- Greenwich Lane (duplex condo): $21.5 million
- 37A 200 Amsterdam Avenue: $21.5 million
- #PH51/52W at One Beacon Court, 151 East 58th Street: $30.5 million
- 15 East 69th Street (duplex penthouse, The Westbury): $32 million
- The Puck Penthouses, 293 Lafayette Street, #PHV: $23.500 million
Dumbo Dominates Brooklyn
In Brooklyn, high-priced condo deals at The Olympia in Dumbo dominated a lot of the sales action. The month started with units, 31A and 20A going into contract for a tad over $8 million and $5.2 million respectively (for 4 and 3 bedroom condos). A week later, #30A (4 bedrooms) went into contract, for just shy of $8 million and since then #19A and #18A (both containing four bedrooms) have gone into contract for $5.15 million and $5 million (both three bedroom condos) respectively.
Elsewhere in the borough, the concentrated Downtown area of North West Brooklyn encompassing Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods, dominated the higher-end deals with condos at The Polhemus (100 Amity Street), 72 Poplar Street, and 1 Clinton Street all registering sales over $3 million amassing a total of 31% of the contracts signed.
However, it was the far larger area of South Brooklyn (Bay Ridge, Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Sunset Park and Brighton Beach to name but a few) that dominated the volume of deals with 34% of the contracts signed.2
Overall, the year-over-year median sale price in the borough increased 13.7% from $910,000 in January 2021 to $1.035 million in January 2022. The Average price per square foot increased 9.6% from $815 to $893.
Downtown Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue is Transforming In front of Our Eyes
As longtime, and not so longtime Brooklyn residents will attest, driving over the Manhattan Bridge into the borough was not always a welcoming sight. The Flatbush Avenue thoroughfare immediately beyond the East River was filled with auto repair shops, gas stations, cash washes, sex shops, fast food stores, and dimly lit streets with aging, unattractive dark architecture. It wasn’t the kind of welcome that did Brooklyn proud. These days, however, things couldn’t be more different. Towering, gleaming super tall buildings have extended Lower Manhattan and created an entirely new, thriving neighborhood filled with hip stores, bars, and restaurants including Dekalb Market at City Point as well the Apple Store, Trader Joe's, and Barclays Center. The next wave of development will be the completion/rental and sales of a string of notable high rises including:
- 196 Willoughby Street (The Willoughby)
- The Brooklyn Tower
- Brooklyn Point
- 11 Hoyt
- The Alloy Block
With those projects and more continuing to morph the Brooklyn skyline into something once unrecognizable, expect the wave of condo-buying activity to continue long into 2022 and beyond.
