Battle of New York’s Toniest Thoroughfares: Fifth vs Park Avenue

Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue may be indisputably the world’s Upper East Side, are two of New York City’s toniest thoroughfares, and have been battling for the crown of the city’s most expensive residential street for almost forever. Most of the time Fifth Avenue claimed the top spot.

In the past seven years, on five occasions Fifth Avenue came out as the most expensive of the two, but Park Avenue has made up ground particularly in the past two years, reducing a difference of as much as 44% in 2008 to 11% in 2011. Furthermore, in 2011, Park Avenue real estate was pricier than that of Fifth Avenue in three of the year’s four quarters.

230 sales took place on Park Avenue in 2011, half of them being sold for more than $2.5 million. There were far fewer sales on Fifth Avenue (133) in 2011, but the storied avenue saw some of the largest sales in the city, among them a $36 million sale of a duplex at 834 Fifth Avenue and a $34.6 million sale of a co-op at 927 Fifth Avenue.

Median Sale Price: Fifth Avenue vs Park Avenue

Most expensive properties currently on the market on Fifth and Park avenues:

740 Park Avenue #12/13CD – $60,000,000
973 Fifth Avenue – $49,000,000
502 Park Avenue #PH22 – $33,000,000
640 Park Avenue 8FL – $29,000,000
960 Fifth Avenue #10/11B – $27,775,000