New York City Condo and Co-op Sales Rise 10.7% in Second Quarter, Says Prudential Douglas Elliman Report

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Today New York City- based Prudential Douglas Elliman released their Residential Market Overview for the second quarter of 2011.

Key findings of the report included;

• Median sales price was $850,000, down 5.5% from $899,000 in the prior year quarter but up 8.7% from $782,071 in the prior quarter.

• Price per square foot was $1,068, up 1.6% from $1,051 in the prior year quarter and up 4.2% from $1,025 in the prior quarter.

• Average sales price was $1,455,098, up 1.6% from $1,432,712 in the prior year quarter and up 9.3% from $1,331,306 in the prior quarter.

• Number of sales slipped 3.8% to 2,650 from 2,756 sales in the prior year quarter but increased 10.7% from 2,394 sales in the prior quarter.

• Pending price index increased 14.3% from the same period last year but increased 10.6% from the prior quarter.

• Pending sales index fell 30.7% from the same period last year but increased 2.1% from the prior quarter

• Listing inventory slipped 1.1% to 8,070 units from 8,157 units at this time last year.

• Days on market was 136 days, up from 105 days this time last year.

• Listing discount was 3.5%, down from 9.1% in the same period last year.

The Condo & Co-op Market

There were 2,650 sales in the second quarter, 4.2% above the 5-year, 2,543 sales and 4.8% above the 10-year, 2,529 sales of the same quarter. The second quarter total of 2,650 was 3.8% less than the 2,756 total in the prior year quarter and 10.7% higher than the 2,394 total in the first quarter of 2011.

The impact of the federal homebuyer tax credit expiration in April 2010 can be seen more clearly in the 30.7% year-over- year quarterly decline in signed contracts using the pending sales index--an aggregate of collected contract data presented in index form. After reaching a 6.5 year low in the first quarter at 14.5%, new development sales as a percentage of total sales increased to 21.8%, consistent with the 20.5% average of the past two years. Market share of new development activity has remained remarkably consistent since the third quarter of 2009, hovering at around 20% of closed sales activity.

Housing prices were mixed in the second quarter. Median sales price fell 5.5% to $850,000 from $899,000 in the same period last year, but increased 8.7% from $782,071 in the first quarter. The other two price indicators tracked in this report, average sales price and average price per square foot, each showed a 1.6% increase from the same period last year to $1,455,098 and $1,068 per square foot respectively.

New development sales averaged $1,160 per square foot in the second quarter compared to $1,042 per square foot for re-sales. Active inventory slipped 1.1% in the second quarter to 8,070 listings from 8,157 listings in the prior year quarter, but 6.1% more than 7,605 listings in the first quarter. The quarter-over-quarter rise in inventory was consistent with 5% average first-to-second quarter seasonal increase over the past 10 years, as homeowners took advantage of increased activity levels typically seen during second quarter. The breakdown of active inventory was 53.7% co-ops, 46.3% condos and 79.9% re-sales, 20.1% new development. While the regional economy continues to fair better than many US urban markets, the continuing issues of elevated unemployment, a constrained US mortgage lending environment, and the weak dollar against other foreign currencies continue to keep meaningful improvements in the housing market in check.



Co-Op Market

There were 4,332 active co-op listings in the second quarter, 9.7% more than 3,948 in the prior year quarter, and 8.4% more than 3,998 in the first quarter. Over the same period, there were 1,366 sales, 13.5% more than the 1,203 sales in the prior year quarter, but 4.5% less than the 1,430 sales in the first quarter. The first quarter total had been the highest sales level since mid-2007. The year-over-year gain in quarterly inventory and sales resulted in a nominal decline in the monthly absorption rate. The number of months to sell all active listings at the current pace of sales was 9.5 months in the second quarter, down from 9.8 months in the same quarter last year. All price indicators moved higher, consistent with seasonal expectations. The median sales price for the second quarter was $700,000, up 0.4% from $697,501 in the same period last year and up 8.9% from $642,500 in the first quarter. Average sales price and average price per square foot showed similar patterns.



Condo Market

The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter results for the three price indicators used in this report showed mixed results. Median sales price was $1,070,000 in the second quarter, 2.7% below $1,100,000 in the prior year quarter and 7% below $1,150,000 in the first quarter. Average sales price showed a modest 1.3% increase to $1,702,079 in the second quarter from $1,680,236 in the same period last year, but slipped 3.1% from $1,756,414 in the first quarter. Average price per square foot showed the same pattern, rising 4.2% to $1,182 from $1,134 in the prior year quarter, but declined 2.8% from $1,216 in the prior quarter. Sales activity continues to remain volatile, largely caused by last year's tax-credit-related federal stimulus. There were 1,284 sales in the second quarter, 17.3% below the 1,553 sales during the same period last year, which was the highest quarterly sales total in three years. The number of sales jumped 33.2% from 964 in the first quarter, a larger-than-seasonal increase likely caused by the post-tax-credit sales lull, prompted by a release in pent-up demand.




 

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