Midtown West is the gateway to New York City, or from the New Yorker’s perspective, the gateway to America. A transportation hub, every part of the city, suburbs, or the rest of America is a quick train, ferry, or bus ride away. The once-industrial neighborhood has been transformed in recent years by enormous projects like the High Line, an elevated park built on an old rail line, and Hudson Yards, a city-within-a-city complex of high-rise towers filled with apartments, offices, shops, restaurants, and attractions.
Few neighborhoods have undergone the transformation Midtown West has seen in recent years. There are many new apartment buildings constructed within the last decade, featuring modern amenities and styles. Older buildings in the neighborhood are more likely to be warehouse and industrial conversions. And there is more investment coming as the far west side prepares for the second phase of Hudson Yards.
Last month saw 24 closings in the neighborhood, 16 condo and 8 coop units. The total number of closings in Midtown West is down by more than 50% since last year. Condo closings have seen a larger overall decline from last month at 30.4%, and are down 23.8% year to date. Coop sales have declined 11% since last month, but are running even since the start of the year. In this case though, percentages can be deceptive. With just 24 closings, one or two closings can make a big difference.
Housing supply is up since the start of the year, with 3,130 condos and 2,740 coops available, but slightly lower since this time last year, down 2.6% and 5.9%, respectively. While there are still 10.6% more condo listings than at the start of the year, inventory is declining slightly, 3.5%, from last month. Coops saw a slight increase, 1.2% from last month, but only 6% more since the start of the year. There are just 318 townhouses available in the neighborhood, a slight increase of 3.9% since last year (Zero of them closed last month.) Additionally, for days on the market, condos are averaging 102 days, up 52.2% from last year. Comparatively, co-ops are averaging 68 days, down 9.3% from last year.
When it comes to sale price and the price per square foot, condos and coops are on different journeys. Condos are seeing a big rise in price, even as the median sale price tops $1.4 million. Condo prices are up 8.1% since last year, 19.7% for the year, and 36.9% from last month. And this trend toward higher prices isn’t simply because we’re seeing bigger units. The price per square foot is rising too. Right now, a square foot runs an average of $1,499. The price has steadily risen, up 2.4% since last year and 6.2% year to date.
Coops offer a significant discount from condos in terms of median sales price, coming in at $470,875 for the neighborhood. These are cheaper on a per-square-foot basis, too, with a square foot costing just $1,028 (approx). There are a lot of reasons coop sale prices can be lower than condos. First, they tend to be older buildings, which can mean higher maintenance costs. Some coops were originally set up with buyer income caps, which can make the price more affordable but also limit appreciation. What is interesting with these prices, though, is the coop sale prices have been trending down, 6.2% lower than this time last year and 8.6% lower year to date – but at the same time, the price per square foot is rising, up 23.1% since last year. These numbers suggest two things. One, condos are perhaps still more desirable since the prices continue to rise. Two, the lower price point of the coops is proving attractive to buyers since even as the sales prices are declining, the cost per square foot is increasing.
