New York resisted the three-year property slump across the United States until early last year. Some commentators said the city's booming property market was looking more like a 'protective sphere' than a 'bubble', because prices kept rising, even though they were falling elsewhere in the country.
All of that has changed in the past six months. The Big Apple's property market has lost its shine and is looking blemished because prices have fallen 8 per cent over the 12 months to the start of December.
'I would say the downturn in New York City has been happening all [of last] year, and I started feeling the credit restrictions last February,' said Gordon Voight II, sales associate at relocation agent DJK Residential.
'Prices are coming down across the board and it varies from unit to unit. Third quarter and fourth quarter [last year were] when we really started seeing price drops.'
New apartments in areas with good transport links and cultural attractions such as Manhattan's well-to-do midtown and financial districts are most popular with Asian investors. A condominium studio in the financial district offered through Prudential Douglas Elliman costs US$465,000.
At Twenty9th Park Madison, a residential condominium being built in midtown by Spanish developer Espais Promocions Immobiliaries, eight buyers are from Asia. Most are buying one-bedroom apartments for their adult children who live in the city. Seventy per cent of the project's 132 apartments have been sold. Ranging in size from 536 to 2,070 sqft, the homes are priced from US$635,000 to US$4.4 million.