Manhattan Luxury Market Booms as Wealthy Buyers Shrug Off Pied-à-Terre Tax

The Manhattan luxury market is booming despite the Big Apple's looming pied-à-terre tax on second homes valued over $1 million.Last week, 36 contracts were signed at $4 million and above, eight more than the previous week, and the most since the first week of June, according to the Olshan luxury report. The Upper East Side took the crown for the most popular area, and condos outsold co-ops—as they normally do. But this time, the gap between them was considerably smaller, with 19 condos sold, only six more than co-ops.Co-ops not only tend to be a lot older than condos, but require an often-onerous board approval process. However, they are typically cheaper. The average asking price of a co-op at the luxury level last week was $6.8 million versus $9.4 million for a condo.The top selling property was a six-bedroom penthouse condo at 255 East 77th Street with an asking price of $23.75 million or $4,303 per square foot. A major lure here is no doubt the sweeping 36-degree views of Central Park from nearly all the rooms and the two terraces totaling 363-square-feet. A six bedroom condo at this size—5,520-square-feet—is rare and the unit took only five months from listing to contract. The...