As previously posted, William Zeckendorf signed a contract to sell his luxury New York apartment at 15 Central Park West in the late Fall.  15 CPW is the super-luxury building that he and his brother developed and has become “THE” building by which others are measured appealing to both celebrities and business leaders.   November’s broker buzz was that Zeckendorf may have broken the elusive $10,000 per square foot mark for a Manhattan Apartment.  He did manage to get the cake but not the icing. The sale closed just under $40 Million and while it ranked as one of the most expensive of 2010, it came in at a still healthy $9,940 per square foot.  

Reports showed that the luxury market made a comeback in 2010.  Despite the buzz, in a Wall Street Journal article, Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel pointed out that the trophy market was still flying below where it was at the 2008 peak when 21 properties sold for over $30,000,000!  In 2010, only 4 properties moved above $30 Million, down from 6 in 2009.  Mr. Miller reports that he believes that 2008 was an anomaly and that we are in a more normal market at this point.  That said, the $10-30 Million market saw a 15% volume increase of  in 2010. 

If London’s solid bonus figures are any indication of how large Wall Street payouts will be, I expect the luxury market to remain strong into the first half of 2011, assuming no major negative stock market events  occur.