HUNTERS POINT — Single professionals were snapping up condos in Long Island City during the last three months, a new report says — a shift from the previous quarter which saw buyers opting for larger, family-sized apartments instead.
More than half of the 57 condos purchased between July and September were studios and one-bedrooms, a jump from the three months prior, when the smaller units accounted for just 29 percent of home sales, according to realty firm Modern Spaces.
While two and three-bedrooms made up 70 percent of sales in the neighborhood between April and June, two-bedrooms made up less than half of purchases this quarter, while no three-bedrooms sold, the report says.
"This quarter, it just so happened that more studios [closed]," said Arlinda Dine, executive director of marketing at Modern Spaces, who said she thinks the shift to smaller homes may have been a one-off.
While single professionals have long been drawn to Long Island City, the dominant trend in the neighborhood in recent years been an uptick in families looking to buy apartments with more than one bedroom, she said.
"We have over 60 two and three-bedrooms, combined, that are just kind of waiting to close," she said. "I think in the next quarter it's going to shift back."
The Modern Spaces quarterly report — which is culled from city housing records, Streeteasy.com and the firm's own data — found the average condo price per square foot this quarter was $1,120, up from $1,113 per foot last quarter.
But since smaller apartments made up the majority of sales this quarter, the overall average condo price dropped slightly to $1,012,484, down from $1,178,304 the three months prior.
In neighboring Astoria, condo prices rose more than 30 percent, with an average of $745,646 this quarter compared to $571,333 during the second quarter of the year, the report found.
Dine said this was in part due to the opening of The Marx, a seven-story luxury condo development that opened in late August on 35th Street off of 34th Avenue, with prices starting in the $600,000s.
The building, which boasts perks like a rooftop barbecue area and heated towel bars in the bathrooms, saw 20 percent of its 33 homes sold during its first week on the market, according to Modern Spaces.
"I think that just says a lot about what Astoria's potential is," said Dine, adding that she's seeing more demand in Astoria for luxury, newly-constructed homes that are more common in Long Island City.
Modern Spaces will be representing similar high-end Astoria buildings in the coming months, including a new project called The Academy at 25-35 21st Ave. in the Ditmars area, which is slated to hit the market this spring, Dine said.
"There's a lot of demand there for nice condos," she added.
