Manhattan’s luxury real estate market is beginning to see forward momentum following a lingering slump in 2019. The final week of January marked the highest weekly sales volume for homes over $4 million since June 2019. A total of 25 homes went into contract and brought in an impressive sales volume of $237.1 million, which has not occurred since mid-2019. The success was spread throughout the market — seven of the properties that went under contract were townhomes.
Overall, the inventory of Manhattan’s luxury tier homes increased by 9.5% as compared to January 2019 as well, with 3,366 homes on the market.
Additionally, the 2020 Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Report predicts that Manhattan will continue to boast some of the most exclusive properties in luxury real estate, alongside Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The city should also continue to attract buyers from all over the world due to its size, economic gravity, and deep inventories of prime properties.
A Look Back At 2019 And 1st Quarter of 2020
Manhattan ended 2019 on a higher note while in the midst of a slump that was caused, in part, by the new progressive mansion tax. The tax was implemented in July 2019 and made homes priced over $2 million more costly to purchase.
The tax breakdown is as follows:
- Value: $2 million-$2,999,999: Tax rate: 1.65%
- Value: $3-$5 million: Tax rate: 2.15%
- Value: $5-$9.99 million: Tax rate: 2.25%
- Value: $10-$14.99 million: Tax rate: 3.25%
- Value: $15-$19.99 million: Tax rate: 3.5%
- Value: $20-$24.99 million: Tax rate: 3.75%
- Value: $25+ million: Tax rate 4.55% (over $1.1 million)
Inventory of Manhattan’s luxury tier homes increased by 9.5%
Lower-Than-Average Sales
The sale of homes valued at $5 million or higher dropped 41% in the fall of 2019.
December began to show improvements: the last week of the year closed 11 contracts on homes valued at and above $4 million.
The upward swing continued into January. The second week saw 15 luxury homes enter into contract. However, the 15 properties saw average price cuts of 17%.
The fluctuations continued into March. Mansion Global reported that buyers signed 21 contracts for Manhattan homes asking $4 million during the week of March 9-15. While this was a downtick from the previous week, Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty, still considers it to be a solid number of new pending sales for a seven-day stretch.
It is unknown how the spread of the coronavirus will impact Manhattan’s luxury-tier market in the near future.
Strive for Stability with Luxury Real Estate Auctions
The traditional market constantly fluctuates; Manhattan is a prime example of how one week can show below-average sales, while the next can shatter records set in the prior year.
Avoid the uncertainty by trusting the sale of your high-end property to a reputable auction company like Supreme Auctions. As Architects of the Industry™, Supreme Auctions is a leader in luxury real estate auctions with over 30 years of experience in marketing and selling high-end real estate.
The company’s dedicated team of auction marketing professionals has decades of expertise, integrity and knowledge to provide both buyers and sellers access to current technology and marketing resources. Supreme Auctions conducts auctions across the United States, having the expertise to handle each distinctive property with the dedicated focus required in today’s changing marketplace.
The firm is fully vested and committed to providing complete transparency and integrity throughout the entire process. They weigh determining factors like optimal time to market your home, the amount of inventory currently on the market to the recent pending sales, and sold data to pre-determine a range of value for your luxury property.
Their marketing strategy is as unique as each of the properties they represent and sell. Supreme Auctions’ strategy exposes your property to the Global Buyer population and in addition their expansive buyer database currently in excess of 300,000.
Additionally, Supreme Auctions was the first to design a program to work alongside and in partnership with luxury real estate agents (no matter if they represent the buyer or seller). Forging partnerships between industry experts extends knowledge of the luxury real estate auction market and builds long-standing brokerage relationships.
The firm boasts a 96% success rate in 2019, with every property selling at or above fair market value within 60 days.
To learn more about Supreme Auctions and their Accelerated Marketing Program, visit their website.
