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More Homes Sold on UES Than Anywhere Else in Manhattan Last Quarter: Study

By Shaye Weaver | February 11, 2016 3:11pm
 A co-op duplex at 893 Park Ave. sold for $18 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to REBNY.
A co-op duplex at 893 Park Ave. sold for $18 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to REBNY.
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DNAinfo/Shaye Weaver

UPPER EAST SIDE — More people bought homes on the Upper East Side than in any other neighborhood in Manhattan during the last quarter of 2015, according to a new report.

There were 688 homes sales on the Upper East Side during the last four months of 2015, the highest among any of the borough's neighborhoods, according to a report by the Real Estate Board of New York. 

The Upper West Side followed behind with with 520 homes sales, then Midtown East with 254 sales and Midtown West with 239 sales in the last quarter, the report shows.

The lead on the Upper East Side could be attributed to the diversity of housing in the area — including co-ops, condos and townhouses priced according to their proximity to Central Park, according to REBNY.

The majority of home sales in the neighborhood were co-ops, with 503 sold in the last quarter — up from 490 during the same period in 2014.

"The Upper East Side has the largest housing supply in all of the neighborhoods in Manhattan and, since a lot of it is rather exclusive co-ops that are hard to get into, when those places do open up, people get in line to try to get in," said Brian Klimas, REBNY's market researcher.

The average price of co-ops in the neighborhood also saw a boost, from $1.4 million at the end of 2014 to $1.6 million for the same period last year.

At 893 Park Ave. — a prewar co-op with a 24-hour doorman, elevator operator, squash court, fitness center and basketball court — a 3-bed, 5-bath duplex apartment sold for $18 million in October last year, according to Street Easy.

REBNY said it was the highest home sale during the last quarter of 2015.

Condos weren't as hot on the Upper East Side during the same period last year, despite the average condo price being lower, or $2.1 million in the last quarter of 2014 compared to $2.3 million last year.

In the fourth quarter last year, 180 condos were sold on the Upper East Side, nine fewer than what was sold during the same time in the previous year.

Townhouses only made up a small portion of home sales, with only five sold during the last quarter of 2015, down from 13 sold during the same time in 2014.

The average price for a townhouse also dipped slightly from $10.8 million in 2014 to $10.1 million in 2015.

The Upper East Side contributed roughly 25 percent to Manhattan's home sales, which was down by six percent, or from 3,228 in the last quarter of 2014 to 3,040 during the same time in 2015. 

The Upper East Side's housing market remains strong as Manhattan sees a slight dip due to lack of supply and more "volatile" economy in other areas of the borough, Klimas said.

"The Upper East Side is a rather stable neighborhood," he said. "It's been there forever and it isn't an emerging neighborhood, where people have to worry about a sharp economic turn sending it back 20 years to when there might have been higher crime or still emerging."