Bedford Homes thanks the Daily News

Buyers are returning to New York to snatch up prime real estate

Buyers are returning in droves to snap up Manhattan apartments.

Spurred by rock-bottom mortgage rates, slashed home prices and tax incentives, the Big Apple’s perennial home-buying season kicked into high gear during the spring, according to a number of residential real estate reports to be released today.

Although the reports showed housing prices were either flat or up modestly compared with last year, sales of co-ops and condos reached pre-recession heights.

“Purchasers were motivated by positive, buyer-friendly market conditions,” said Pamela Liebman, CEO of brokerage firm the Corcoran Group. It created a ” ‘now is the time to buy’ mentality.”

From April through June, Manhattan’s residential real estate market logged about 3,600 sales, up 47% from a year ago and 17% higher than during the first quarter, Corcoran said.

The average Manhattan apartment sold for $1.39 million, a 4.1% increase from a year ago, and a 3.5% jump since the first quarter, said real estate research company StreetEasy.com.

A hot segment of the market was oversized, three-bedroom apartments.

“It’s like the higher end of the housing market woke up,” said Jonathan Miller, president of real estate appraisal company Miller Samuel, which compiles reports for Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Also back from the brink are bidding wars, said Corcoran’s Liebman. As inventory tightened and buyers got aggressive, more than 50% of Corcoran’s agents got caught in the middle of a price war during the quarter, she said.

Bedford Homes thanks the Daily News