master list of Manhattan loft closings is up to date!

finally!
No kidding around … no one else has this data. I have just completed the Master List of Manhattan loft closings, bringing it up to date with deeds filed as of February 5 (the most recent available as of this morning on StreetEasy). I will periodically update from here on in, I promise. (I promise!)

clean up is coming
It does not yet have the computation columns filled in (price per foot and days to contract), but I will get to that sooner or later. I am beginning to check for past sales data through the Corcoran data base, so I have been able to add some prior sales as far back as 1995 (I love the Corcoran data base!).

future project: year over year
At some point (when I think I have the past sales data in good order) I will begin to highlight paired sales: lofts that have traded recently and at some point in the past, in order to systematically determine how The (current) Market compares to, say, 2007 prices. That will take some time. but will be really cool. I have already found that at least 27 lofts that have closed in 2010 have prior sale prices (about 20 of which are from 2005 or later), so there will be a lot of data to parse. Fun!

limitations
As I noted in my original post when I published this data, there are a number of limitations involved with this data set. The principal two limitations are that (a) it relies on my recognizing a "loft" as a "loft", since I have no way to reliably filter for loft sales automatically on StreetEasy, and (b) (as a result) I only look at "Downtown" closings (because I am too afraid of missing actual loft sales in a flood of data, so I ignore the few needle-in-a-haystack Upper East (or West) Side lofts, and the more frequent but still atypical midtown lofts).

Sorry, but I just don’t think I have the patience to scan every closed transaction or the stamina to maintain concentration to find "lofts" if I have the entire data set open for review.

A third limitation is that for StreetEasy "most recent" means the most recent dates on the deeds, so deeds that take a while to get filed may be overlooked. For example, I have come across deeds that took as long as 6 weeks to be filed. That was not a problem in my last review, because I had so much back-story to review anyway, but going forward I will probably scan only "last 30 days"" regularly, so those tardy filings may get lost in that shuffle. (Though I do tend to check a building history when I find a new closing, and have back-filled closings that had been overlooked.)

Net, net, despite these significant limitations, this Master List represents that best source for Manhattan loft transactions anywhere. Indeed, I believe it is the only source for specific information. (Please tell me if anyone has come across another.)

more to come, but help needed
I now have 15 months of closing data. Sooner or later I will do a 2009 in review. While this won’t be especially timely, it should be interesting to compare the loft niche to the overall Manhattan market.

As should be obvious from this primitive format, I am not a master at spreadsheets. If there is someone out there who is, and is interested in getting access to the full data set to see what fun could be had with data sorting beyond my ignorance level, let me know and I would be happy to share. Please.

note to self
Remember to someday ask The Miller how he tells a "loft" from an "apartment" for purposes of his reports….

ENJOY!

© Sandy Mattingly 2010