PropertyShark BlogCenter

In January 2010, the closing of Unit 25 at 15 Central Park West marked the highest resale gain in this famed Upper West Side limestone building. The unit sold for $13,700,000 in January 2010 but was initially purchased for $5,990,000 in December 2007, an increase of 129%.

15 Central Park West

32 units have changed hands, some more than once, since they were first on the market in 2007. All but one resold for a higher price. The average resale increase was a whopping 63%, with 5 units (#25D, #26B, #38A, #24F,#29C) resold for more than twice the initial price paid for them.

13 units have resold for a price difference of over $5,000,000. A premium of $16,765,000 was paid in December 2009 for a combo sale (#PH43 & #S805) over their combined July 2008 closing price. The second highest price difference was $15,500,000 for a penthouse that sold for $37 million in September 2009 after it had been bought for $21.5 million in April 2008.  NY Observer has more on the story.

Active listings show that owners of 15 Central Park West apartments still expect this level of large price increases.  The increase in asking price ranges between 45% for unit 12H, to 130%, for unit 28B.

Unit 12 at 15 CPW Source: Brown Harris Stevens

Browse current apartments for sale on the Upper West Side.

In 2009, banks more than doubled the number of New York City properties unloaded from their REO inventories.  1,027 repossessed properties located in the five boroughs of New York City were sold by banks to private buyers or investor groups in 2009. That’s a 131% increase from the 444 properties the banks sold from their REO inventories in 2008.

Several investors have emerged as the most active buyers of REO properties in 2008 and 2009.  They managed to resell most of the REO’s they bought in the past two years, with seven-figure profits.

10852 Union Hall Street

One of the top REO buyers, Ambassador Investors Group Inc.,  bought 14 repossessed properties in 2008 and 16 in 2009.  This corporation managed to resell all of the properties bought in 2008 and 10 of the properties bought in 2009, for a total price difference of $4,379,030.

The properties in question were all single- or two-family dwellings in Queens, almost half of them from the Jamaica neighborhood. The most profitable property was a two-family dwelling on Union Hall Street, in Jamaica, bought for $180,000 in December 2008 and resold in April 2009 for $445,000.

Alonim Equities Inc. was another of the most active REO buyers. Records show it bought 6 repossessed properties in 2008 and 20 in 2009. It seems they have managed to resell 18 of these properties so far, for a total price difference of $3,321,500.

As in the case of Ambassador Investors Group Inc., all of the properties were single and two-family dwellings in Queens, except for one Brooklyn property.

Individual buyers have also been involved in buying REO’s at a huge discount from their previous selling price. For example the repossessed unit 4S at 220 Riverside Boulevard was bought in November 2009 for $530,000. The previous buyer paid $860,000 in January 2006.

Banks have sold properties in the past two year for prices ranging between $25,000 to $880,000. The most expensive repossessed property to be sold in the past two years was a single family home in Little Neck, Queens.  The Bank of New York sold the property located on 52-11 Leith Place for $880,000. The former owner paid for the house $1,075,000 back in December 2004.

The least expensive repossessed property to be sold in the past two years was a two-family dwelling located at 994 Linden Boulevard. Atlantis Group Holdings LLC bought the property for $25,000 in March, 2009.

5211 Leith Place, Queens

220 Riverside Boulevard, Manhattan

With a median sale price of $2,900,000, Presidio Heights was the most expensive neighborhood in San Francisco County in 2009. Fifty homes sold for over $1,000,000 in the neighborhood, increasing the median sale price by  58% over the 2008 median sale price of $1,830,000.

3855 Washington Avenue Source: www.3855washington.com

3855 Washington Street was the most expensive home to be sold in the neighborhood. This property, listed by Sotheby’s, has its own website and has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation prior to its listing, according to SocketSite.com. It hit the market with an asking price of $8,000,000 and was sold for $8,100,000 in November 2009.

Sea Cliff, the most expensive San Francisco neighborhood in 2008, had a median sale price of $1,800,000 in 2009 compared to its 2008 value of $2,680,000. However, it boasted the most expensive sale in San Francisco County for 2009.

300 Sea Cliff Avenue sold for $18,000,000 in September 2009, 59 months (!) after it first hit the market with an asking price of $23,500,000, according to SocketSite.com. There’s been much speculation about the true buyer of the property, which property records show to be Tawaraya LLC  while other media sources have indicated Tom Cruise ( Curbed San Francisco)  or Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (The Real Estalker).

St. Francis Woods was the third most expensive neighborhood, with a median sale price of $1,605,000.  The median sale price rose 10% from the previous year ($1,458,500), but the number of sold homes slid from 36 in 2008 to 23 in 2009.

The most expensive sale in the neighborhood was well below the highest prices paid in Sea Cliff and Presidio Heights. 120 Santa Ana Avenue was sold for $2,760,000 on 9/10/2009, becoming the most expensive sale in the neighborhood.

Although the neighborhood was not present among the top San Francisco neighborhoods by median sale price, Pacific Heights had its share of glory, having the second most expensive sale in San Francisco County in 2009.

2510 Jackson Heights was the second most expensive home sold in 2009 in San Francisco County. The property was foreclosed upon in April 2008 and bought by Robertson Stephens Inc. for $6,100,000, our property records show. It hit the market with an asking price of $14,900,000 and sold for $11,500,000 in July 2009, resulting in a $5,400,000 gain for Robertson Stephens Inc.  SocketSite.com and San Francisco Gate have more on the story.

300 Sea Cliff Avenue Source: Curbed San Francisco

Note: For the purpose of this report we have analyzed single family homes and condo units.

PropertyShark has identified the buildings that had the highest number of condo units sold during 2009. Here are the top three: (Click on the photo to see current for sale listings in each building)

The Brompton (122 units sold)	At the top of the list is The Brompton, located at 205 East 85 Street on the Upper East Side. It was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects in a Gothic-inspired style. The building had 122 units sold during 2009 and currently has 17 units listed for sale at a median price of $3,997,500. The median price for the sold units was $1,720,000.
The Harrison (91 units sold)	In second place is The Harrison, located at 205 West 76 Street on the Upper West Side. It features 125 units and was also designed by the world-renowned Robert A.M. Stern Architects. There were 91 units sold in the building during 2009, at a median sale price of $1,675,000. Currently there are 16 units listed for sale, at a median price of $2,825,000.
The Visionaire (90 units sold)	The third placed building is located at 70 Little West Street in Battery Park City. The Visionaire had 90 units sold in 2009, at a median sale price of $1,760,000.

Browse current apartments for sale in New York City.

With a median sale price of $680,000 in 2009, Forest Hills is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Queens.  The neighborhood features more multimillion dollar  sales of  single family homes since 2005 than any other neighborhood in Queens . 170 single family homes  in the neighborhood sold  for over $1 million since 2005,  peaking in 2007 with 41 homes sold above $1 million.

105 Greenway South | Source: Terrace Realty

2009 had the highest price paid for a Forest Hills property in the past 5 years. 105 Greenway South, located in the private community of Forest Hills Gardens, closed for $3,775,000. The property was on the market for about 2 years and closed with a price chop of $4,220,000  from its initial asking price ($7,995,000).  Terrace Realty brokered the sale.

The majority of multimillion dollar  sales happened in the private community of Forest Hills Gardens, including the top 3 most expensive sold homes : 105 Greenway South, 20 Shorthill Road, and 147 Greenway North. However, the area northwest of the Gardens across Queens Boulevard has had intense activity in the luxury real estate market with over 40 multimillion dollar homes sold in the past 5 years (see map below).

The first month of 2010 saw 3 transactions over $1,000,000 in the area. Two of them, 49 Groton Street and 18 Summer Street, were also the two most expensive single family homes sold in  all of Queens in January 2010.

The most expensive home currently on the market in Forest Hills is 95 Tennis Place, priced at $3,250,000. Halstead has the listing.

Homes sold for over $1 million in Forest Hills

95 Tennis Place | Source: Halstead.com

View current homes for sale in Forest Hills, Queens.

Note: for the current report we have analyzed single family homes sold for over $1 million in Queens and Forest Hills between January 2005 through January 2010.

We took a look at apartments that were sold in 2009 in certain Manhattan neighborhoods and compared the median prices  they sold for with the median prices that apartments are currently listed for in those  neighborhoods.  The highest percentage difference was recorded on the Upper East Side, with a current median listing price 29% higher than the median sale price in 2009.  Harlem follows with a listing price 21% higher than the 2009 median sale price.  On the Upper West Side and SoHo/Tribeca the current listing price is 17% higher than the median sale price during 2009.

Browse current Manhattan apartments for sale.

Here are the top 3 listings of residential properties (coop units, condo units, single family homes) in NYC that we’ve found to have the largest total dollar price drops during the past week. You can click on the photo for more listing details or click on the address for a detailed property report.

Browse current residential for sale listings in New York City.

(Note: PropertyShark.com is not involved in any way with the sale of these particular properties.)

98 Bridies Path and 191 Shinnecock Hills Road, both located in Southampton, are the properties scheduled for auction in March 2010 with the highest lien amount. According to our foreclosure records the defendants of the scheduled properties are Carrie Coakley and Donald Macpherson.

According to the NY Daily News, the owners of a renowned club in Soho, Carrie Coakley and Donald Macpherson, are allegedly tied to a $50,000,000 fraudulent mortgage scam. Carrie Coakley bought 98 Bridies Path in 2005 for $2,300,000 according to our records, but may have used fraudulent mortgage practices reports the National Mortgage News. Our records also show the mortgage value for Donald Macpherson’s 191 Shinnecock Hills Road to be $975,000.

982 Noyac Path Water Mill

The alleged mortgage fraud spree involved several dozen East End homes reports the Sag Harbor Express. Among these are 1106 North Sea Road, which was scheduled for auction last year though no deed has yet been filed to confirm the sale, and 982 Noyac Path.

A lis pendens was filed against 982 Noyac Path in July 2009 and the property is currently listed for sale by Brown Harris Stevens for $3,000,000.

At the top of the list of the highest priced homes to hit the market in Nassau County in 2010 is a Mediterranean-style home located at 240 Middle Neck Road in Sands Point, listed at $17.5 million.

In second place is a townhouse located at 1365 Planting Fields Road in Upper Brookville. The house is styled after an Italian renaissance palace and is listed for 12.5 million.

The third home, designed in the style of a French castle is located at 56 Woodland Road in Old Brookville and is listed for 11.5 million.

Browse current Nassau County residential listings.

(Note: PropertyShark.com is not involved in any way with the sale of these particular properties.)

Occasionally, commercial property owners have creditors file lis pendens against them and put the property up for sale.  Here are 3 such properties listed for sale where the owner recently received a lis pendens filing. You can click on the photo for more listing details or click on the address for a detailed property report and information on the lis pendens.

Browse current NYC commercial listings.

(Note: PropertyShark.com is not involved in any way with the sale of these particular properties.)