Condo Sales Jump in Manhattan

Manhattan condominium sales continue to pick up momentum, even as prices continued to decline.

In March, condo sales activity more than doubled, rising 101.2% compared with a year earlier, according to the RPX index designed by Radar Logic Inc. Sales in March were down 6.6% when compared with a month earlier.

Sales of existing units increased 154% in March from a year earlier. Sales of new units, meanwhile, declined 25% in March. There was also a shift towards sales for small and inexpensive condo units in the $400,000-$600,000 range, said Quinn Eddins, director of research for Radar Logic.

Condo prices, as measured by square foot, were down 14.9% in March compared with the same month a year ago. In fact, prices declined in seven of the eight neighborhoods tracked by Radar Logic. The biggest decline was on the Upper East Side, where average prices fell 28.8% to $925.93 a square foot. The only neighborhood that posted an increase in prices was the East Village/Lower East Side, where prices per square foot rose 1% to $903.64.

Despite the large year-over-year increase in sales activity, Mr. Eddins noted that sales remain low when compared with peak activity in 2007.



By BRITTANY HUTSON - The Wall Street Journal