Luxury Real Estate

By Jason Sheftell of the NY Daily News

Courtesy of: Jacky Teplitzky of Prudential Douglas Elliman

It all started a few weeks ago. First came the return of Tiger Woods, then the volcano eruption, then the sudden return of the real estate market. All over the five boroughs, reports started flying in about astronomical sales figures, bidding wars, and houses selling after just two days on the market. At first, I didn’t believe it. A spring rebound? The federal tax deadline?

But it was more than that. Maybe, just maybe, buyers on the fence for the past two years started pulling the trigger. Open houses started seeing huge traffic numbers. At the high end, multiple townhouses sold for more than $15 million. At the $600,000 level, apartments for sale one week were all gone the next. Things were picking up. I asked around, trying to get a handle on just how fast things were moving. Prices shot up like lightning in all ranges. Every day, brokers were calling with stories about the market’s comeback. From 40 sales at a condo in Long Island City since January, to a 300%  increase in total sales from a broker in the Bronx, to new condominiums in Manhattan flying off the shelves, here are some of those stories: