Manhattan luxury market is rebounding

The Manhattan luxury market is rebounding.  New York, being a world city, is an area to watch when looking for what high-end buyers are doing.  The sales in Manhattan’s luxury market have increased, compared with the beginning of 2009. The number of transactions in Manhattan’s luxury market was up a staggering 93.7% in the first quarter of 2010, says Sofia Song, of StreetEasy, a real estate marketing firm. The firm defines luxury as the top 10% of transactions in terms of price which works out to sales above $2.83 million during the first quarter.

Apartment sales almost doubled year-over-year, according to a report by New York appraiser Miller Samuel. Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, says that sales of Manhattan’s high-end properties, or those with three to four bedrooms, showed the most gain in market share. They jumped to 16% of total unit sales in the first quarter, from 10% a year earlier.

According to StreetEasy the median sales price in the luxury segment in Manhattan increased to $4.45 million Q1 of 2010, from $3.9 million during Q3 of 2009, when prices started to stabilize.  There also appears to be more interest in the lower end luxury homes and Buyers are typcially paying all cash.

This mirrors very much what is happening in Hawaii.  The Kahala luxury market was perhaps the first area to become the most active, with not the high end Kahala Avenue homes, but with the side street homes under $2 million.  Also, as in Manhattan’s luxury market cash is still the most common way to purchase.