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Manhattan Open House Report - Midtown East 1 Bedrooms

October 6, 2007

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The past two Sunday’s, I previewed a number of Open Houses in the Midtown East area - Sutton Place, Turtle Bay, Beekman and the fringes of Murray Hill.

  • Price range - $600,000 to $1,000,000
  • Co-ops, Condo and Condops
  • Pre and Post war

Generally speaking, I did notice more buyers at some of the open houses, yet I still managed to find some that were dead. There were some good choices as far as location and views were concerned, but some of the asking prices were a tad bit unrealistic.

There were some possible deals to be had. Apartments that have been languishing on the market for over 3 months were offering price reductions as well as incentives. The brokers made it pretty clear that their sellers were “motivated” - in other words - desperate to sell. The problem is when you overprice the apartment from the beginning, you do a disservice to your seller client. Overpriced apartments have longer days on market. Savvy buyers overlook them and move on. When price reductions occur, a seller may lose some of his leverage. As a buyer, it’s an opportunity to use the apartment statistics against a “motivated” seller to make a deal. If you’re a seller, price your apartment right from the beginning if you want it to sell faster and at a good price.

Mid-Town East Inventory remains tight. Contrary to other reports, from conversations that I’ve had with buyers, they are waiting for a desperate seller with the perfect apartment before they make the offer. This may be a geo-macro issue, specific to a certain neighborhood - not sure. From my experience, the September, October, November period is when ready, willing and able buyers try to seal a deal before the holiday season. The goal is for 1st quarter occupancy. They want to avoid the swarm of cash strapped buyers swooping into the market during the Wall Street bonus buying season. Makes sense. Why would you want to compete for a home with someone who has money to burn? Not fun.

The word on the street is mixed regarding the size of this seasons Wall Street bonuses. Regardless of what happens, I think that in the first quarter of 2008, the pool of buyers in the lower price ranges will increase. Buyers will go smaller rather than bigger. They may be more flexible on location and amenities. More buyers + low inventory = higher prices.

On this long Columbus Day weekend, Open Houses in Manhattan may slow down a bit. The serious buyers however, will be out in full force. Happy hunting.

This week, I’ll venture out of my geographic area of expertise and get a pulse on what’s happening in the downtown real estate market.

Episode: Happy Hunting by Rachel Natalie Klein of INTOTHEBOX.tv

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Posted by Rudolph D. Bachraty III | Filed Under Manhattan Open Houses, Real Estate Blog 

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