New York City's 2010 Commercial Property Sales Currently Up 17% Over Same Period in 2009, Says Massey Knakal

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Today Massey Knakal Realty Services released their third quarter (3Q10) Property Sales Reports for the greater New York City area (Manhattan, Northern Manhattan/Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens).

According to their report, the total number of properties sold citywide through the third quarter was 1,248 up an impressive 17% from the 1038 properties sold in the first three quarters of 2009. The 3Q10 number of 388 properties sold was down 21% from the 493 total properties sold in 2Q10. Through the third quarter (1Q-3Q10) activity also remained 68% below the 3,980 sales occurring in the first three quarters of 2007, which was the peak of market activity.

"While we have had several consecutive quarters of increased sales volume, 3Q10 volume was surprisingly disappointing as dollar volume and number of sales dropped from 2Q10," said Massey Knakal Chairman and Founding Partner Robert A. Knakal. "Volume has now joined value as each bounce around, trying to find their footing," added Knakal.

Within the different market segments Massey Knakal tracks, Northern Manhattan was the best performing thus far in 2010. The 108 properties sold (occurring north of 96th Street on the east side and north of 110th Street on the west side) represent a 77% increase from the comparable period in 2009, and up 9% from 2Q10. The borough with the least activity was the Bronx in which there were 135 properties sold in 1Q-3Q10, down 16% from 1Q-3Q09 and down 21% from 2Q10.

For dollar volume, the best performing area was Manhattan which saw a 130% increase in activity through 3Q10 and a 43% increase compared to 3Q09. Queens was the weakest performer with $87 million of sales through 3Q10, down 2% from mid-year 2009 and down 38% compared to 3Q09.

The highlights from each report include the following:

Manhattan (south of 96th Street on the east side and south of 110th Street on the west side)

• There were 105 closed transactions consisting of 114 properties in 3Q10.
• The number of properties sold is up 69% from the 1Q-3Q09 but is down 16% from 2Q10.
• The aggregate sales consideration through 3Q10 was $7.2B up 130% from 1Q-3Q09, but down 82% from the peak year of 2007.

Brooklyn

• There were 111 closed transactions consisting of 128 properties in 3Q10.
• The number of properties sold is up 16% from 1Q-3Q09 but down 29% from 2Q10.
• The aggregate sales consideration through 3Q10 was $690M up 32% from 1Q-3Q09, but down 77% from the peak year of 2007.

Queens

• There were 57 closed transactions consisting of 58 properties in 3Q10.
• The number of properties sold is down 7% from 1Q-3Q09 and down 35% from 2Q10.
• The aggregate sales consideration through 3Q10 was $367M down 2% from 1Q-3Q09, and down 80% from the peak year of 2006.

Northern Manhattan (north of 96th Street east of Central Park and north of 110th Street west of Central Park)

• There were 26 closed transactions consisting of 37 properties in 3Q10.
• The number of properties sold is up 77% from 1Q-3Q09 and up 9% from 2Q10.
• The aggregate sales consideration through 3Q10 was $451M up 105% from 1Q-3Q09, but down 62% from the peak year of 2007.

The Bronx

• There were 36 closed transactions consisting of 42 properties in 3Q10.
• The number of properties sold is down 16% from 1Q-3Q10 and is down 21% from 2Q10.
• The aggregate sales consideration through 3Q10 was $328M up 1% from 1Q-3Q09, but down 82% from the peak year of 2007.

"Although metrics are vacillating, the market is making its way through the clearing process which bodes well for the future," said Knakal.

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