Record Manhattan home sales test buyers

All-cash offers, bidding wars, and purchases based on floor plans alone, are some of the tactics being used by increasingly desperate Manhattan property buyers, the Financial Times reports.

Read: Faceoff: Mind your mortgage

The number of apartment sales in the New York borough rose 27% in the fourth quarter of 2013 over the same period in 2012, to 3,297. It’s the highest fourth-quarter number since recordkeeping started 25 years ago, but it’s overshadowed by the third-quarter total of 3,837.

The average time a property is on the market is now at 95 days, half the time of 2012.

Real estate experts say there is more interest from foreign buyers than ever. The average price of a luxury apartment is now US$4.9 million, FT reports.

Read more here.

Also read: Canadian home sales static

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.