2-Bedrooms Are Back
AS the real estate market in
Sales of studios and one-bedrooms rebounded first after the market crashed in late 2008, followed by three-bedrooms, but it wasn’t until mid-2010 that the two-bedroom market started its comeback. Now, brokers say that the demand for smaller apartments has ebbed and that two-bedroom apartments are all the rage, especially those priced at the lower end of the market.
Alan Nickman, an executive vice president of Bellmarc Realty, says that more buyers have recently come to him looking for apartments between $750,000 and $1.2 million. “That’s basically your starter two-bedrooms,” Mr. Nickman said, adding that the pool of potential buyers included “first-time buyers who are going straight into a two-bedroom,” bypassing smaller units.
Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, said that the volume of sales for two-bedrooms was on pace to match last year’s figures, but that the inventory of two-bedrooms for sale was increasing more slowly. While overall inventory has grown by 13.4 percent since March 1, two-bedroom inventory grew the slowest, at 11.4 percent. “If inventory gets tighter,” he said, “that portends a more robust two-bedroom market for the year.”
The median sales price for two-bedrooms topped out at $1.65 million in 2008 and now hovers at $1.21 million, according to Miller Samuel data. Two-bedrooms in
Focusing on the lower end of the spectrum, a recent search for two-bedrooms between $750,000 and $1 million found more than 650 listings. (There were about 1,100 two-bedrooms between $1 million and $2 million.) Many of the under-$1 million properties were in Upper Manhattan, Brooklyn and
At the lower prices, the apartments tended to have only one bathroom and to be in nondoorman buildings, but many had been recently renovated. Brokers say that when priced competitively these listings sell quickly.
Tracie Hamersley, a senior vice president of Citi Habitats, said she had a two-bedroom listing in Murray Hill that received multiple bids and went into contract close to the asking price after one week on the market. “The buyer had bid on and missed out on two other similar apartments in the same building,” Ms. Hamersley said. “So certain types of two-bedrooms are definitely moving very quickly.”
She is listing a recently renovated two-bedroom two-bath condop at
“The price drop made a big difference, because a lot of people want to avoid the mansion tax,” Ms. Hamersley said. The
Many of the potential buyers are owners of one-bedroom apartments who were reluctant to make the leap to a two-bedroom when the market was weaker, according to Ms. Hamersley.
Like Mr. Nickman, she is encountering renters who are hoping to make their first purchase a two-bedroom. “A lot of these people feel they can stretch for the two-bedroom in the current market,” she said. “They want to get more bang for their buck.”
Arabella Greene Buckworth, a senior vice president of Brown Harris Stevens, has a listing for a two-bedroom one-bath co-op at
Scott Harris, a vice president of Brown Harris Stevens who has several two-bedroom listings ranging from $499,000 to $1.56 million, said two-bedroom buyers on a budget were motivated by low mortgage rates and also by concern that when the limit for conforming loans drops to $625,500 from $729,750 on Oct. 1, mortgages will become more expensive. “The lower limit affects this buyer more than any other,” Mr. Harris said, noting that buyers of higher-priced properties tended to have higher incomes, which protected them somewhat from fluctuating mortgage rates.
Mr. Harris recently sold a two-bedroom one-bath apartment at
“We wanted to be able to spend more time with our 1-year-old daughter and have less stress on the commute,” said Mr. Carney, the director of media sales for NFL.com. “We also decided this was the best and safest place to invest our money — plus we get the utility of the apartment.” To be able to get an apartment that fit their criteria “and get it south of $1 million” was a bonus, he said.
Softer prices for two-bedrooms have also attracted Aaron Schindler, another client of Mr. Harris’s and a first-time buyer. Mr. Schindler, a financial planner, said that in 2008, with prices some 20 percent higher, he had thought it made more sense to rent than to buy. “Now, when you compare rent and carrying costs,” he said, “it’s pretty close, but I think there’s value in making the long-term investment, especially in a two-bedroom.”
To rent the kind of two-bedroom apartment he seeks — in a prewar doorman building on the
“I very much know what I want,” he said, “and I probably won’t get it at the lower end of my price range. Scott says, ‘We’ll find it, but be patient,’ and I’m happy to be patient.”
Closer to $750,000, two-bedroom apartments in
“There are some very well-priced two-bedrooms available for people who may have only been able to afford a one-bedroom not that long ago,” said Karin Posvar Picket, a senior vice president of the Corcoran Group. She represents a renovated two-bedroom one-bath co-op at
“There are not many two-bedrooms in
North of 96th Street, Peter Burval and Frances Katzen, agents with Prudential Douglas Elliman, have a $750,000 listing for a two-bedroom co-op with one bath at 407 Central Park West, between 100th and 101st Streets. The living room and kitchen look out on the park, but the bedrooms face a courtyard. Mr. Burval said many buyers would prefer to live farther south, “but this is perfect for someone who wants to take advantage of the park,” and desires some extra space, as the bedroom has an anteroom that could be used as an office or nursery.
Mr. Burval, who is working with several buyers looking for two-bedrooms below 96th Street, said, “It’s been very hard to find quality inventory, and when we do find something that has good views and is in good condition, there are multiple bids within the first few weeks of it coming on the market.”
That’s what Ray Sapirstein experienced in his search for a two-bedroom in Brooklyn, near the apartment he is renting in
The search was “a real dogfight, though,” he said. “I bid on two other places where there were other bidders, and the price went up higher than I wanted to go.” He said that his new apartment had been the subject of multiple bids as well, but that other buyers had been intimidated by its need for renovation. “It had been converted into a large one-bedroom, so I’ll have to do some work to turn it back into a real two-bedroom,” he said. But having once worked as a carpenter, Mr. Sapirstein said, he likes the idea of the project.
Buyers averse to fixer-uppers but not to staying under $1 million can head to Harlem, Williamsburg or Long Island City, where two-bedrooms can be found for six figures in new developments.
Norman Horowitz, an executive vice president of Halstead, represents the
Many of the potential buyers who come to see the building have been priced out of the
Copyright © 2011 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission. Photos should be credited as follows: James Estrin/The New York Times.