Manhattan Condo Sale Prices Report Largest Monthly Decline in 3.5 Years, According to New StreetEasy Manhattan Condo Market Report

NEW YORK, May 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Key facts:

• Manhattan condo sale prices declined 1.4 percent in April, the largest monthly decline in 3.5 years, according to the StreetEasy Condo Price Index.
• According to the new StreetEasy Condo Price Forecast, condo prices are expected to stay essentially flat through the spring selling season, increasing 0.1 percent in May.
• Pending sales, or homes that entered into contract, decreased 3.2 percent after rising in Feb. and March. Pending sales are down 13.7 percent compared to April 2013 levels.
• Manhattan inventory increased 3.6 percent on a monthly basis, the fourth consecutive month of inventory increases. Nearly half of available condos for sale were priced above $1.9 million.  

Manhattan condo sale prices fell in April (1.4 percent) after rising for four consecutive months, as measured by the StreetEasy Condo Price Index^[i]. This marks the largest monthly decline in condo sale prices in 3.5 years. On an annual basis, prices are up 12.5 percent from April 2013, according to StreetEasy's new monthly Manhattan Condo Market Report^[ii].

StreetEasy^®, the leading real estate marketplace in New York City, published a new monthly report which provides a timely snapshot of Manhattan condo market trends. The report introduces new metrics, such as the StreetEasy Condo Price Index (SECPI) – formerly known as the Condo Market Index – inventory price tiers^[iii], and the newly released StreetEasy Condo Price Forecast (SECPF) ^[iv]. StreetEasy is the first and only New York City real estate marketplace to forecast condo prices for Manhattan.

Using the SECPI and leading indicators for current market conditions, such as listing prices and days on market, the SECPF predicts the change in Manhattan condo sale prices one month out from the current reported period. In May, condo prices are expected to remain essentially flat, rising 0.1 percent from April. 

Pending sales, or homes that entered into contract, are an important barometer for buyer appetite in the market. In April, pending condo sales fell 3.2 percent from March and 13.7 percent year-over-year. Pending sales typically rise during spring, a traditionally busy time of year for New York City real estate.

"April saw the largest drop in sale prices since September 2010, signaling that while sellers still have the upper hand in the marketplace, buyers may be gaining some traction in bringing prices back down to Earth," said Alan Lightfeldt, StreetEasy Data Scientist. "The declines in condo prices and pending sales in April, combined with our forecast of essentially zero price movement for May, point to a relatively lackluster spring selling season this year. After a record-breaking finish to 2013 and beginning to 2014, we may have approached the upper price limit to where buyers are willing or able to meet sellers."

Overall condo inventory in Manhattan increased 3.6 percent month-over-month, however the median time on market fell to just 49 days^[v], the shortest time ever recorded by StreetEasy. At the previous market peak (March 2008), condos were listed for a median of 105 days before they entered into contract.

Buyers also experienced more difficulty in finding condos in the lower- and moderately priced segments. Nearly half of all condos available in April (47 percent) were priced at or above $1.9 million, while condos in the bottom- and middle- price tier represented 21.2 percent and 31.7 percent of active inventory in April, respectively.

*Midtown SECPI does not include Roosevelt Island

The full report, including a neighborhood breakdown of StreetEasy Manhattan Condo Market Report data and additional analysis, can be viewed at streeteasy.com/nyc/market/reports.

About StreetEasy:
Launched in 2006 and acquired by Zillow, Inc. in August 2013, StreetEasy is New York City's leading real estate marketplace, providing accurate and comprehensive for-sale and for-rent listings from hundreds of real estate brokerages in New York City. The site adds layers of deep, proprietary data and useful search tools that help consumers and real estate professionals navigate the complex real estate markets within the five boroughs of New York City, Northern New Jersey and the Hamptons.

About Zillow:
Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) operates the leading real estate and home-related information marketplaces on mobile and the Web, with a complementary portfolio of brands and products that help people find vital information about homes, and connect with the best local professionals. Zillow's brands serve the full lifecycle of owning and living in a home: buying, selling, renting, financing, remodeling and more. In addition, Zillow offers a suite of tools and services to help local real estate, mortgage, rental and home improvement professionals manage and market their businesses. Welcoming nearly 79 million unique users in April 2014, the Zillow, Inc. portfolio includes Zillow.com®, Zillow Mobile, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, Zillow Rentals, Zillow Digs®, Postlets®, Diverse Solutions®, Agentfolio®, Mortech®, HotPads™ and StreetEasy®. The company is headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow.com, Zillow, Postlets, Mortech, Diverse Solutions, StreetEasy, Agentfolio and Digs are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc. HotPads and Digs are trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

(ZFIN)

^[i] The StreetEasy Condo Price Index (SECPI), previously named the StreetEasy Condo Market Index, provides a measurement for how prices are moving in the Manhattan condo real estate market. It is based on a repeat-sales method, which compares the sale prices of the same properties over time. The SECPI is indexed to the year 2000 with a value of 100. A value of 200, for example, would indicate that Manhattan condos are trading at twice their 2000 price. Since the repeat-sales methodology tracks price changes over time in the same unit, the SECPI is a much more reliable measure for sale prices as it controls for biases and errors created by variables such as location, size, age, and condition.

^[ii] The StreetEasy Manhattan Condo Market Report is a monthly overview of the Manhattan condo real estate market. The report data is aggregated from public sources by a number of data providers and real estate brokerages for all five major submarkets within Manhattan, with most metrics dating back to 1995. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit streeteasy.com/nyc/market/reports. StreetEasy also tracks data for the five boroughs within New York City.

^[iii] Condo listings are placed into one of three price tiers - bottom, middle, and top - using price cut-offs derived from a 12-month weighted moving average of recorded sale prices at the 33rd and 66th percentiles. Price tier cut-offs change each month in order to capture evolving trends in condos that are available during a given month. The top tier corresponds with the most expensive condo listings.

^[iv] The StreetEasy Condo Price Forecast (SECPF) predicts the change in Manhattan condo sale prices one month out from the current reported period. Incorporating the StreetEasy Condo Price Index, StreetEasy's comprehensive database of listing prices and days on market - two leading indicators to future condo prices - we are able to accurately forecast next month's condo prices before the release of publicly recorded sales data.

^[v] Median days on market measures the number of days from the original listing on StreetEasy to when it enters contract. After a buyer enters contract on a unit, it is pulled from the market and is no longer available to other buyers - creating a logical end point to "days on market."

PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/92045-StreetEasy-Condo-Market-Report.pdf

SOURCE StreetEasy

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