Why do sellers/brokers do this?

It could be for a lot of reasons....sometimes people change their minds about selling, there could have been some renovation done since the first listing, and did you look at comparable properties?

The market overall is down, yes, but Real Deal reported that prices are up 4% in the Upper West Side (I think that was since last year, correct me if I'm wrong) despite being down 10% overall in Manhattan.

Just like in the mountains, there are micro-climates in cities. There could be a valid reason for this.

However there is also the phenom called buying a listing, which means a broker gets a listing by telling the seller what they want to hear.

Up 14%, actually, Q4 YOY if they're quoting the same numbers reported here:

http://nymag.com/realestate/features/63383/

Upper West Side (72nd to 110th streets)
Fourth-quarter prices, 2009 vs. 2008: Up 14.11 percent.

Though I should add, before I get flamed -- the numbers in the article seem dubious to me, so don't kill the messenger.

I don't work the UES (or for either of the listing firms). But I will say, in general, you price into a market and position yourself vis-a-vis competition. So if there are three apartments available the size of what you're selling, you take that into account, and if your listing is the only one of the crop, then you take that into account.

Historical prices are valuable for buyers, sellers, and appraisers, but buyers can't fly back in time and purchase those properties. So one explanation is: It's possible broker #1 was selling into a more crowded field a year ago than broker #2 is now.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

hope..that what sellers/ developers / brokers are banking on...we're almost into march and its still the same story as last year.

I think the hopes for a V-shaped recovery are just that.

But we notice the same pricing, too. Stuff goes on the market at $800k and broker pitches it as a bargain because similar units in the building are $850k and $1m (dreaming). Nevermind that that the two closings in Q4 '09, which were nicer and on higher floors, are around $725k, which would make these units worth $700-715k at best.

I don't begrudge sellers the right to price their property however they want. If they can unload their property to someone for significantly more than the last comp, that's great. I can say with 100% assurance, however, that we will not pay a penny above the 2009 comps. If that's what it takes to get into this market, we'll keep renting and look again next year.

I suspect we'll buy something that's been on the 3-9 months, where the sellers are ready to face reality, need to move and have located a property, and have come to believe that walking away with last year's price is a good thing rather than a bad thing. We've seen this happen a few times already, just not with properties that are right for us.