The Townhouse Resource for Gramercy | Kips Bay Flatiron Murray Hill NoMad

The Journal is designed to keep you informed about all things townhouse from your local market to maintenance, history, architecture, construction, and more.

 

I love townhouses. I got hooked after I sold my first one in 2010. Owning a townhouse is owning a piece of NYC history, a look back in time to the 1800s and early 1900s. I’m captivated by the craftsmanship of carved marble fireplaces and stair rails, elegant decorative moldings and pocket doors, and inlaid flooring and Tiffany windows. Nothing beats the old-world artisan creations found in these homes. The quality of work and materials is hard to find today if you can find it at all. I marvel at these things every time I walk into a townhouse, entranced by the history and unique fingerprint of each one. Each one has a story - does yours?

 

For many townhouse owners violations are often out of sight, out of mind. You may have violations, complaints, and open permits on your property that you don’t know about. So why does this matter? Because it impacts your ability to sell, refinance, or undergo construction on your property which can cause months-long delays.

 

From the Civil War to World War l, Ladies Mile was a popular and fashionable shopping district for wealthy and affluent New Yorkers. Famous department stores such as Lord and Taylor, B. Altman, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany and Co., and others were located on the District’s avenues while cross streets contained smaller merchants and firms servicing the larger department stores. Various performance venues, upscale restaurants, and booksellers attracted wealthy patrons and celebrities. Over time the area became less elite and the wealthy moved uptown with upscale department stores following them. The Ladies Mile Historic District was designated as such by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1989 and is located roughly between Park Avenue South and Sixth Avenue from 16th-24th Street.

 

The 2022 market started off following close on the heels of 2021’s record-breaking year of over 16,000 signed contracts. The market then aggressively shifted mid-year due to a dramatic increase in interest rates coupled with a volatile stock market, inflation, and fears of a recession. Consequently, buyer demand fell in the 2nd half of the year by almost 40%.

Towards the end of the year, many sellers took their properties off the market waiting for economic conditions to improve. This resulted in a decrease in inventory of 15% between the 3rd and 4th quarters. The decline in inventory kept prices from dropping precipitously with only a 5% decline from the year prior. The current market is expected to rebound in the spring or early summer.

The townhouse market has been experiencing somewhat of a renaissance since the start of the pandemic with deal volume increasing 30% in 2021. Activity accelerated in the 1st half of 2022 as buyers continued to prize the privacy and outdoor space that townhouses offer.

However, buyer demand followed the general market activity falling off mid-year. The townhouse market in the 5 neighborhoods covered in The
Townhouse Journal followed the broader Manhattan market. As seen in the accompanying chart, townhouse sales volume began increasing during the start of the pandemic in 2020, reaching its highest volume over the past 5 years in 2022.

Lower prices and higher sales volume in Kips Bay/NoMad accounted for the overall decrease in price. Over the past 2 years average prices were 70% higher and median prices were almost 45% higher in Flatiron, Gramercy, and Murray Hill than in Kips Bay/NoMad which had more than double the amount of sales volume.