Massey Knakal reports prices of Manhattan apartment buildings break $500 per s/f for first time

The average sale price of Manhattan apartment buildings has broken the $500 per s/f barrier for the first time, reports Massey Knakal Realty Services,. The overall market also performed well with the median price per s/f across all property types and submarkets in the first half of 2007 reaching $231, up 2.6% from the second half of 2006. In addition, the market-wide turnover rate for the first six months of the year was 1.7%, up 0.2% from the last six months of 2006. On an annualized basis, turnover is running at 3.4%. Massey Knakal executives expect the actual 2007 turnover to be approximately 3% based upon slower volume in the second half of 2007. The firm's New York City Income Property Market Report for the first half of 2007, prepared by the appraisal firm Miller Cicero, LLC, shows that sale prices for elevator buildings in the area of Manhattan south of 96th St. reached $517 in the first half of the year, a 21.3% increase from the same period a year ago.