J Condo/Beacon Tower/Manhattan Bridge (Photo courtesy of Josh_Derr)

Based on yesterday’s housing report on existing home gains, and the NY Times article on the strong market for Manhattan apartments, it’s easy to conclude that the real estate market has bottomed out. “increases were seen in the prices being paid for the largest apartments in Manhattan and for apartments in Brooklyn.” Brooklyn condos also increased in Q1 2007 compared to Q1 2006: “Buyers also seemed more willing to pay higher prices for new condominiums in Brooklyn. Corcoran said the average overall prices in Brooklyn rose 22 percent, to $628,000 in the first quarter of this year from $514,000 in the first quarter of 2006.”

Curbed featured Jonathan Miller’s Manhattan Market Report which find that “across the board, the numbers are up: more sales (an astounding 73% higher than Q1 2006) at higher median prices ($835,000, up from $825,00), and less inventory (down 14.2%) as apartments sell faster (one week faster, in point of fact.)” But real estate is regional, and differences are seen on a block by block basis. Jonathan Miller’s report for Prudential Douglas Elliman quoted in Curbed shows that the number of sales increased 73% this quarter to 3,474 units as compared to the 2,005 units sold in the prior year quarter, listings sold one week faster than the same period last year, and listing discount was 2.6%, down from 2.8% during the same period last year.

But these house listing prices, existing home gains, or sale indexes shouldn’t be taken too literally. It seems like people think of housing much like stocks, an investment that can be tracked in real time. Having said this, keep this in mind for the Dumbo Real Estate Market report as the listing prices are not reflective of the sale price or market value. It’s only meant as a comparison of what’s on the market today relative to my November report.

In November, 2006, I looked at five realtors with exclusive listings in the Dumbo Brooklyn area. In my un-scientific number-gathering, here’s what I found for the five real estate firms:

There were 61 condos on the market:
– the average asking price was $1,158,829 (+3.79% for the period between 9/06 and 11/06), while
– median price is $1,075,680 (+7.57%) and
– average price per square feet is $851.14 (+6.13%).

Four months later, (as of April 1), for the sake of consistency, I’ve added up the condos on the market for the five real estate firms that have exclusive listings.

As of 4/1/07, there are 47 condos on the market:
– the average asking price is $1,159,798 (+0.08% for the period between 11/06 and 4/07), while
– median price is $1,097,500 (+2.03%) and
– average price per square feet is $841.43 (-1.14%).

All the above numbers exclude the $8.6 million listing of the Clocktower penthouse (which would skew the numbers).

Here’s what’s on the market in Dumbo, Brooklyn as of April 1, 2007:

• Douglas Elliman has 10 listings, all under contract. The average asking price is $1,100,300 (median: $1,067,500) while the average price per square feet is $782.76.
• Corcoran has 28 listings (7 of them J Condo and 12 Beacon Tower). The average asking price is $1,097,990 (median: $1,050,000) while the average price per square feet is $867.43.
• Halstead has 2 listings. The average asking price is $1,290,000 while the average price per square feet is $818.53.
• Brown Harris Stevens has 1 listing. The asking price of the 1 Main Street, 4E listing is $1,275,000, which has been on the market since September at the same listing price.
• Sotheby’s Realty has 6 listings. The average asking price is $1,549,800 (median: $1,750,000) excluding the $8.6 million listing of the Clocktower penthouse.

So to boil it down, although Dumbo’s listing prices seem to be unchanged, the condos that have been on the market that are in contract are priced $20-50k lower than when they first came on the market. Several of the J Condo listing prices have actually increased by $10-20k, while the Beacon Tower listings have not budged.

{Dumbo Real Estate Market: November 2006 Edition, DumboNYC}
{Will Dumbo Real Estate Continue to Rise in 2006?, DumboNYC}
{Market Strong for Apartments in Manhattan, NY Times, April 3, 2007}
{U.S. Economy: Pending Sales of Existing Homes Gain, Bloomberg}