It’s all too easy to look at averages and high level real estate stats in NYC and miss the real picture. Yet, as we know, real estate is local, local and well…local. City-wide data rarely provides the numbers you need to truly understand what’s happening on the ground. That’s the intention behind this “featured neighborhood” post today!
Per StreetEasy’s description:
The Upper West Side encompasses Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, Verdi Square, Columbia University, American Museum of Natural History, Julliard School of Music, The Collegiate School and many other academic and religious institutions. This neighborhood is not only a cultural hub, but also an academic center. A pastiche of students and tourists animate Upper West Side, which is forever bustling with life and activity. Green spaces landscape the area providing not only refreshing recreational sports but also an appealing facet to its geography. The most loved parks include Central Park, Riverside Park and Straus Park. The Subway trains A, B, C, D, 1, 2, 3 run through the area.
The stats:
The price to purchase properties on the Upper West Side hovers around a median of $1,885/sq. ft. with the median sales price of $1.9 million. The price of rental properties is about $63/sq. ft., with the median rental price of $3,642 for 900 square feet. New development pricing, as you might expect, hovers around $2,200/sq. ft. and a median sales prices of a whopping $5 million.
The supply (inventory):
Inventory on the Upper West Side is down 13.5% from last year in condos and 7.6% in co-ops. That said, townhouse inventory is up 4.3% though still a tiny segment of the market. As of our writing, 288 condos were available (up to 52% since the beginning of the year), 318 co-ops (up to 48%) and 24 townhouses.
The demand (pending sales):
Signed contracts in the area jumped materially in the middle part of the year for condos, settling a bit over the last few months (down 2% year to date) but up a healthy 23.4% from last year. Co-op sales have continued their descent (down 23% year to date and 16.6% from this time last year). This is despite them outselling condos by a 3:1 ratio, both historically and this year. You can clearly see that seasonality is alive and well in this sub-market.
[Source: Urban Digs and StreetEasy]
