This might have been the year that New York City’s ultra-luxury housing market entered a holding pattern.
To date, 240 contracts have been signed in the city for homes priced $10 million or more; last year, there were 235, according to data compiled by the broker Donna Olshan, who publishes a weekly luxury market report. “This year just shows you that the rich are still very rich,” Olshan says.
The rich are predictable in other ways, too. Seven of the top 10 most expensive sales in the city this year to date were on Billionaire’s Row, a stretch of 57th Street directly below Central Park in Midtown Manhattan.
And all of them, except for a townhouse on East 71st Street, according to Olshan’s data, were condos. “It’s the same old story,” Olshan says. “Uber-luxury condos sell, and they just stay above the pack.”
Co-op sales this year were nowhere near the top of the market; they make an appearance only as the 25th entry on Olshan’s list. Rich buyers’ preference for condominiums over co-ops is “not part of a cycle,” she says. “Co-ops have been on the decline for quite some time, which is not to say they’re not beautiful—they are, and many have some of the best architecture ever built,” she continues. “But the shareholders [of co-ops] are suffering. They accept lower-than-true-market value for the privilege of being in a dysfunctional club.”
Despite the similarities to 2022, Olshan says the city’s 2023 luxury housing market will be remembered as a slog. “In general, prices were much more negotiable, and units hung on the market much longer,” she says. “We’re living in fragile times. It just takes a long time to do every deal—and get it across the finish line.”
That’s not quite evident in aggregate dollars spent. Last year, the top 10 residential sales in New York totaled $640.7 million. This year’s top 10 rose slightly, to $650.9 million. “It’s not a bad result, considering you’ve got two wars going, high interest rates and we’re heading into an election year,” Olshan says. “Considering that, New York real estate has held up pretty darn well.”
Here is the full list of the top 10 most expensive home sales in NYC to date this year.
$51 million for 443 Greenwich Street, PHH
The backstory: Located at the top of a 19th century building in TriBeCa, this 8,900-square-foot, three-story apartment comes with its own private elevator and an additional 3,500 square feet of outdoor space. The apartment was once owned by Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton; he sold it to an unknown buyer who turned around and sold it to this year’s purchaser, a trust reportedly associated with Jennifer Gates, a daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
$52 million for 150 Charles Street, PHA
The backstory: Not much is known about this off-market deal, although the Wall Street Journal reported that the seller is a company tied to former Credit Suisse executive Robert Shafir. That company purchased the penthouse, which covers about 4,500 square feet in the West Village condominium building, for just over $29 million in 2016. The penthouse also reportedly comes with about 2,500 square feet of outdoor space.
$53 million for 111 West 57th Street, PH61
The backstory: This 7,000-square-foot apartment in the super-tall, super skinny tower designed by SHoP Architects on Billionaire’s Row sold for about $7 million less than its last asking price. With three bedrooms and 4 1/2 baths, according to a listing, the apartment is one of just 60 residences in the building.
$65.6 million for 432 Park Avenue, Apartment 79
The backstory: Lofty as the price might be, its seller was hoping for much more. The full-floor residence was gut renovated by the prestigious architect Hiroshi Sugimoto and originally listed in 2021 for $135 million. By 2023, the 8,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-bath, and two half-bath home’s price had fallen to $92 million. Its closing price was more than 50% below the original ask.
$65.6 million for 9 East 71st Street
The backstory: Made infamous as the onetime home of Jeffrey Epstein, the house was sold by his estate for $51 million in 2021. (Proceeds of the sale went to a compensation fund for Epstein’s victims.) The home’s buyer was Michael Daffey, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive. Together with his wife, Daffey redid the 28,000-square-foot house, which is set less than a block from Central Park on the Upper East Side. Not counting any renovation costs, the sale represents a 28% profit in about two years.
$65.8 million for 768 Fifth Avenue, Apt 1109
The backstory: Located in the Plaza Condominium and Residences, (carved out of the historic Plaza Hotel on Central Park South), this apartment last sold in 2008 for just under $46 million. Because the sale took place off-market, the details are fairly obscure, although Olshan’s data shows that the apartment has approximately 11,900 square feet, with nine bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
$67.9 million for 1165 Madison Avenue, PHC
The backstory: Covering four floors on the top of the Bellemont, a new condo development on Madison Avenue, this apartment actually consists of two duplexes combined. The apartment has approximately 8,000 square feet, according to Olshan’s data, and includes seven bedrooms and 8 1/2 bathrooms.
$75 million for 220 Central Park South, Apt 64
The backstory: Measuring roughly 6,000 square feet with five bedrooms and 5 ½ baths, according to Olshan’s data, the apartment, which was never officially on the market, last sold in 2020 for $54 million. Located in what’s arguably the hottest luxury building in New York, this means that the apartment appreciated by approximately $7 million annually.
$75 million for 220 Central Park South, Apt 45
The backstory: Another day, another stratospheric price for a unit in the tower, which was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. The anonymous buyer of this unit reportedly spent an additional $5 million on a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment on the 19th floor of the building earlier in the year. This apartment has five bedrooms, six baths, and two half-baths; it also has two balconies overlooking Central Park.
$80 million for 220 Central Park South, Apt 20E/V8
The backstory: Yet another apartment in 220 Central Park West tops 2023’s list. This unit—set in the “villa” part of the building—is on the eighth and ninth floors. (A studio in the tower part of the building was reportedly included in the price.) The duplex, which covers about 7,900 square feet, has six beds and at least six baths, according to Olshan’s report.
