why did 107 West 25 Street loft take so long to sell?

so close to original ask, above last ask
I got on the horse yesterday about the form of Market Curios that take a long time to sell at not such a different price at which they had long been available (424 Broome Street loft takes 15 months to sell at 9% discount; why so long?). The Manhattan loft #4C at 107 West 25 Street takes that horse on the same route to a different neighborhood: it came to market on April 23 in one year at $1.395mm and sold on April 25 in the following year at $1.325mm. (Happy birthday, indeed!) Along the way, there was the oddity of two price drops, plus a 5 week hiatus:

These sellers were not nearly as stubborn as the ones yesterday, dropping the price one after (only!) five months and then again 3.5 months later (after that 5 week hiatus). These sellers were rescued by The Market from the ‘extra’ price drop, though it is impossible to know if the price drop to $1.299mm generated the heat to get a contract in five weeks, or if the hiatus was perfectly timed to bring it back when the buyers were ready.

The utility of this “1,300 sq ft” loft is similar to yesterday’s loft, with two bedrooms and a den (but only one bath), but at a very different scale. I seem to have kept it a secret, but the 5th floor at 424 Broome Street is much bigger than #4C at 107 West 25 Street, at “2,300 sq ft”.

old world, and new
This loft on 25th Street has a similar meld of classic loft elements (in this case, brick walls, tin ceilings, and exposed pipes) with modern finishes, as that loft yesterday on Broome Street. It is a pretty nice looking very loft-y loft.

The market for this loft may have been thinner because of that single bathroom, and I wonder where that “additional bathroom can be installed”. Probably in the closet in the master; perhaps in the entry closet. In either case, you’d be giving up some significant storage to get that second bath.

You see no evidence of light in the listing, which can also thin a market. The bedroom windows (shown in the pix with curtains, usually a telling sign) are mid-block, so there may not be much light. Those side windows in the living room face east, probably at the back of the commercial buildings along Sixth Avenue here.

So … not much light and only one bath, at an asking price at or slightly above $1,000/ft in a no-frills coop. You culd see that the market for this loft might be thin, but it is still peculiar that it sold 367 days after coming to market at only a 5% discount from the original asking price. Oh, and at a $26,000 premium to the last asking price.

Sigh.

Sometimes The Market works in mysterious ways,

© Sandy Mattingly 2011