158 West 23 Street loft zooms more slowly through market

the real story is the 2007 context
Yesterday it was 17 days to contract 8% above the ask at the top of Soho (December 7, 12 days to contract 8% over ask at 284 Lafayette Street loft with 8 skylights); today it is less zoom (35 days to contract) and less boom (a 6% discount to ask), but considering that the “1,865 sq ft” Manhattan loft on the 5th floor at 158 West 23 Street recently sold at a 7% premium to the last resale in this 2007 residential loft condominium conversion (16 months ago), that feels like at least a little bit of zooming and booming to me. YMMV, of course.

Perhaps the market is learning to appreciate these full floor lofts in this 5-unit condo conversion from 2007. Back in the day, the developer was pretty savvy, having the patience to not come to market until nearly ready to sell, and so taking advantage of the most froth possible. The 5th floor, for example, came to market (per our listings data-base) originally on May 8, 2007, was in contract by June 4, and closing quickly (for a new development) on August 13 at $1,680,112 (backing out the New York City and State transfer taxes paid by the buyer, and recorded in the deed price, that was a contract at $1.65mm, a slight discount to the ask of $1.699mm). The point is that the developer did not get full price in those heady days just a few months short of The Peak in the overall Manhattan residential real estate market, and 5 years later that same loft has sold at a 26% premium to the 2007 sponsor sale.

It is not as though 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues has moderated in those 5 years to create an improving-neighborhood premium to outperform the overall market. That frothy 2007 market was fairly tested by this developer (the discount proves that, as opposed to some 2007 new developments that may have been priced too low), yet the current market views this small condo as an over-performer. The history of the last resale in the building that I referred to in my opening also suggests a recent velocity.

That prior resale was the 3rd floor on June 28, 2011 for $1.99mm. Identical to the 5th floor in finishes and footprint, the 3rd floor has a fascinatingly different floor plan than the 5th floor, with 3 bedrooms and a den, as opposed to the 2 bedroom, large open area floor plan on the 5th floor. In such a small building, consisting only of full floor lofts, it was unusual for a developer to have such different layouts; I wonder why they did that.

The 3rd floor was valued in the new development market in 2007 at only a slight deficit to the 5th floor, with a record price of $1,619,017 recorded within 2 weeks of the 5th floor sale. That original spread was only a 4% premium in favor of the 5th floor. The resale markets were different, with the 5th floor last month and the 3rd floor in June 2011, but in that pair of sales the 5th floor premium was 7%. As I said, it appears the the market is learning to appreciate these efficient lofts (3 bedrooms plus den on the “1,585 sq ft” 3rd floor!) on 23rd Street.

© Sandy Mattingly 2012