When Heather Hacker began seriously looking to buy in Harlem 1 1/2 years ago, there was no shortage of co-ops or condos.
“When I started looking, I was shocked at how much was out there,” says Hacker.
However, she adds, “It did give me a lot of pause: What would happen if I have to sell my place?”
But that was Harlem 2010. Harlem 2011 is a different story.
“I’ve definitely seen that change,” says Hacker, who’s in the process of buying a two-bedroom, 1 1/2-bathroom condo in the 22-unit Parkside Flats, at 362 St. Nicholas Ave., for $395,000.
“Buyers are seeing tremendous value [in Harlem], and very little citywide inventory,” says Steve Kliegerman, president of Terra Holdings. “There’s very good inventory in Harlem.”
For now, at least. Prices have dropped for co-ops and condos (in some cases to less than $500 per square foot for new construction), and as a result, the huge glut of inventory that had so worried Harlem observers has started moving.
A number of prominent buildings that started sales only last year are now sold out, or are close to being so. The Livmor, Parc Standard and the Douglass, all on Frederick Douglass Boulevard, are now fully sold. The 15-story Soha118 (also on FDB; it came on the market in late 2007) has a mere six units left out of 93. (Remaining units go from $920,000 to more than $3 million.) And the 89-unit 2280 FDB (which came on the market in late 2008) is a healthy 73 percent sold, with remaining units going from $499,000 to $1.889 million.
For the past few years, when Pamela Ritke, of Charles Rutenberg Realty, had a client who wanted an apartment on the Upper West Side, she’d make a pitch for them to also consider Harlem. It was only two extra stops on the subway, she would argue, and the prices were so much better.
“Now I’m trying to get them two stops [even] higher,” Ritke laughs.
Yes, it’s now getting tricky finding product in north Harlem, too. The Alameda, at 221 W. 148th St., just sold its last unit; the 32-unit Savoy West at 555 Lenox, at West 138th Street, has only six units left according to Streeteasy (one is selling for $470 per square foot). And PS90, the 75-unit condo that was an elementary school, at 220 W. 148th St., sold (or has accepted offers on) all but two units (priced at $425,000 and $755,000).
Even buildings introduced this summer are faring well: The 73-unit co-op 88 Morningside is 71 percent sold. And successful buildings like the Gateway and Windows On 123 are onto their second phases. (Gateway has only nine out of 86 units left.)
Article source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/residential/comeback_mFcxnJtf8HpuAOFQ1w4I0K?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=
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