Updated: October 11, 2012 2:26 p.m.
Home sales and prices rose across the city in the third quarter, according to a new report. In Brooklyn and Queens the average sales price hit its highest point since late 2007, at $619,000 and $411,000, respectively.
According to the quarterly residential sales report from the Real Estate Board of New York, the average price paid for a home in the city rose 1% over the last year, to $786,000.
Citywide, the number of home sales in the third quarter were up 6% from year earlier levels. Manhattan led the five-borough pack with a 7% jump in home sales volumes, while Brooklyn and the Bronx each saw a 5% rise.
Steven Spinola, REBNY’s president, said the improvements signaled a housing recovering for the city.
“Based on the data, the slow, steady and consistent improvement in the market continues to provide strong evidence that the New York City residential sales market has made it out of the woods and should only continue to improve,” Mr. Spinola said in a press release.
Despite mixed economic signals, demand for housing in the city has remained high, Mr. Spinola added, which means next year should bring new residential construction.
In the third quarter a total of 26 homes sold for more than $10 million. The priciest was the $42 million sale of 973 Fifth Ave., the 25-foot-wide former residence of architect Stanford White near East 79th Street.
The Federal Reserve’s recent announcement of a round of mortgage-backed securities aimed at keeping mortgage rates near bottom levels further propped up the home sales market, the report said.
But other real estate statistics show a drop in year-over-year home sales, Crain’s reported. The median sales price for co-ops and condominium units dipped 2.3% to $890,000 from the same time last year, according to a report released last week by Prudential Douglas Elliman and prepared by Miller Samuel Inc. One-bedroom apartments are gaining market share, however, and this year’s third-quarter sales volume was the second-highest since 2007, the Elliman report showed.
