Last Week's Biggest Sales
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $3,050,000 45 State Street GMAP (left) This house was purchased by a developer a few years ago and then marketed for $4,250,000 in ’08; by the time it was an Open House Pick this May, it was listed for $3,900,000. Entered into contract on 6/25/09; closed on 8/20/09; deed recorded on 9/1/09….
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $3,050,000
45 State Street GMAP (left)
This house was purchased by a developer a few years ago and then marketed for $4,250,000 in ’08; by the time it was an Open House Pick this May, it was listed for $3,900,000. Entered into contract on 6/25/09; closed on 8/20/09; deed recorded on 9/1/09.
2. PROSPECT HEIGHTS $2,300,000
On Prospect Park, Unit 10E GMAP (right)
This is an 1,825-sf, 3-bedroom unit in the Meier-designed condo, according to StreetEasy. Entered into contract on 12/17/07; closed on 8/27/09; deed recorded on 9/4/09.
3. BOERUM HILL $1,800,000
291 State Street GMAP
This four-story brownstone was a House of the Day twice: First in November ’08, when it was listed for $2,250,000, and then in January ’09, when the price had come down a touch, to $2,100,000. Entered into contract on 6/11/09; closed on 8/27/09; deed recorded on 9/2/09.
4. CARROLL GARDENS $1,690,000
6 3rd Street GMAP
The last ask on this 4-story townhouse was $1,895,000 late last year, according to StreetEasy. Entered into contract on 5/8/09; closed on 7/24/09; deed recorded on 9/4/09.
5. GOWANUS $1,650,500
162 Douglass Street GMAP
This renovated townhouse was listed for $1,825,000 in April, according to StreetEasy. Entered into contract on 6/22/09; closed on 8/20/09; deed recorded on 9/2/09.
State Street pic from StateandHicks.
Antidope –
I don’t really disagree with you, but I think we can also agree that someone who stands to lose 10% of a contract price isn’t in the best position to renegotiate. And if that buyer still managed to get a 16% reduction in the price of the contract, then concluding that “they believe that the market value of the building is not severely below their contracted price and/or that prices will rebound” just seems like a leap made for the sake of being bullish.
Anyway, the sale was healthy and I am certainly not sure that what I think happened actually happened so there isn’t much to discuss I guess.
With sale prices like these, it really makes me think about finally putting the house on the market. Phew!
Antidope,
When do you think the peak was and where do you feel we are relative to it? I am not trying to be a d@ck, just curious.
A non-data driven observation is that it appears to be quite different for new condos versus established co-ops versus Brownstones.
My non-data driven, but based on anecdotes guess:
New Condos – peak Winter 2007 – down more than 30%
Established co-ops – peak Summer 2008 – down 10%
Brownstones – peak summer 2008 – down 20%
If this holds, I think these declines would be a pretty good outcome for NY property owners and would show some solid resilience with some tough regional economic news. Unfortunately, I think we have a bit to go, though.
for me, it’s not so much the safety of the projects as the fact that there is always a ton of car traffic around them and that for whatever reason (don’t receive very good services like trash pickups? i dunno) they are often pretty dirty in a way that no amount of good neighborliness will ever improve. not necessarily more so than other parts of brooklyn, but in the case of douglass in particular, gmaps suggests that it looks directly into the trash dump area of the housing complex, which i would not want outside my window. $1.6 is a decent price for that place, and strong for the area. still, i have to think that unless they got a crazy bargain on their initial purchase, the sellers couldn’t have made that much on the post-reno sale.
ledbury-
i will not argue that the top has been knocked off the real estate market.
however, 1250/sqft and an ungodly monthly maintenance to live in prospect heights is a solid price. i don’t care what the ask was. it doesn’t matter. if there were another comp that matches perfectly (ideally the same unit), i would not be surprised if price was 10-15% off peak. it is hardly 50% off.
boerumresident-
agree with point about finished houses selling better.
disagree that we are at 2005/06 prices. what’s your data?
11217, I grew up next to the projects. I still go to the projects all the time and have no issues whatsoever. That’s me. I’m sure some people have issues with the projects. at 1.7M, I can see brownlime’s point. you telling me there’s no good alternative in that area that can be had at 1.7M? knock a few hundred K off, then I’m in your camp – ie hey, the price already accounts for any project discount, etc
11217–totally agree with your perspective here. Thanks.
And I used to walk by those projects in Gowanus nearly every day for 6 months. Gay old me. NEVER did I have a problem. As boreumresident says…they really aren’t that bad.
Take a look at the crime statistics….it’s a hell of a lot safer to live in the Gowanus area than it is to live in many sections of Bed Stuy and Crown Heights.
Antidope –
There is a third possibility. By combining the info above (contract date 12/17/07) and the Street Easy info of only one listing price of $2,725,000, it is possible that the building did knock off $425,000 in order to get the deal closed.
Maybe its bullish, maybe its bearish, but if that is what happened, it certainly is different.