some sellers are adapting

2009 as 80% of 2007?
It was somewhat refreshing to come across a Manhattan loft recently new to market that is priced with The (new) Market in mind. The seller knows exactly what life near the top of The (old) Market was like, as s/he bought it two years ago. The seller is testing the proposition that The Market is off 20% in two years by asking 80% of what s/he paid in 2007.

Even in a thin market, you’d like to think that that kind of behavior will be rewarded with a serious bid followed by negotiation and a contract.

The loft is in a brand-name loft nabe, though in an out-of-the-way corner. It was marketed two years ago with an emphasis on the quality of its renovation, so it should probably still qualify for three mints after just two years. It is interesting that the 2007-buyer-turned-2009-seller bought way back then only after some months and a series of price drops (about 12% off the original ask, in total).

bad thread title, amended
While this loft logically falls within the thread I have been calling too pushy … or not pushy enough?, it shows the gap in my thread title. My mistake was using ‘not pushy enough‘ as one pole in a market in which there are no below-market offerings. This loft is probably not pushy at all, which is about as conservative a pricing scenario as we are likely to see from all but the most motivated (desperate) sellers.

This one will be very interesting to follow.

© Sandy Mattingly 2009