Yorkville - east of Lexington - BAD

why go outside the building if your attempting to come up with a units value? Why? I would not say East 86th is depressing, you may say it. Granted, the further east you go the less desirable and more bang for your buck you will see. But if someone wants to live on 85th and 2nd, why would they compare that target unit to a unit on 85th and Park? You wont. Stick to the bldg for comps, the bldg is in the area you deem needs a discount, then the bldg sales should represent that discount. If you leave a bldg in an attempt to do a comps analysis, you introduce variables that ultimately degrade the valuation attempt

Isn't LOCATION LOCATION still the mantra? I didn't expect to have to clarify it to you, of all people, but the otherwise equal unit in Washington Heights, say, priced a fraction of the identical unit on, say, West End and 86th.

I like it up there and when - which I know is a way off, the 2nd ave subway is completed, values will rise over the there. You get a bang for your buck - in rentals as well. Not for everyone but many like it and there are lots of families.

Have you ever seen 86th between york and east end? One of the most beautiful and peaceful blocks on the ues with apartments that go in the millions. It might be a little too far east for some but it is truly lovely.

some people make 1 million in sallary and some are making it by walking 4 blocks from Park to first. If the return on the 1 million on an annual basis is 50K that suggests that every block they walk daily they get 150 dollars. I like being paid for walking and since in contrast to Salut, my self esteem is not driven by my neighbors, I find Yorkville to be an excellent rational decision rather than an emotional infantile choice. (former resident of yorkville)...

realtime, let's try not to get personal, ok? I did not express any personal preference/choice but simply stated the difference in prices and ASKED WHY. Speaking of choices, I've been in GV for ages and plan to remain here forever.

as to Urbandigs comment on same building comps,
Let's say you want to do same building comps on a two bedroom apartment where every other sale in that line was a larger three bedroom as per the original design. Same footprint except the 3 bdroom has a 300 sq ft larger addition which includes a full bath. Now it's a same building 3 vs. 2 comp. What do you think the differential factor would be if we were comparing square feet?
To make it simple...the per square foot premium of a 3 vs a 2.

salut: I personally don't care for Yorkville either. In any way. So, I just choose not to look there.

"why go outside the building if your attempting to come up with a units value?"

urbandigs: I'm frankly shocked by your post. I'm sure that you know full well that there are a number of reasons why other apartments in the target building might not be suitable for comps. Perhaps too few recent sales in general, too few sales of that line, the apartment is unique in some way (e.g., a combination) such that it doesn't compare well to other units in the building, etc. etc. As a general statement, I agree with you - the target building should always be a key source of comp data. But to not expand your comp radius to nearby buildings would be a mistake in many cases.

Salut there is a big difference bw 86th and EE and WH. Not a good comparison at all. If you want to say above 96th and the FDR then there is a difference bc you are going into East Harlem at that point or at least EH in my mind. I used to be a village person as well for 20 years and wish I had never moved. I also never lived up on the UES. I did live on the UWS for a year on 83rd. I would live in Yorkville above 86th but never in WH. There are good schools zoned for the Yorkville area as well which isn't true for WH.

Maybe I am confused by your question. Are you asking why there is such a price differential or why there isn't more price differential? If you are really asking about why brokers say anything it's because they are trying to sell the property. There are benefits to living out of what you call the UES proper and that is primarily monetary given the good schools in both places and the tranquility of Yorkville. There are parks too - just not Central Park. I am trying to to put my personal opinion of the place into my answer but that's kind of impossible.

Yorkville isn't Park Avenue so what? If you want to live on Park or Fifth, that's great. Personally, I like the convenience of living near shops and the life on the street which is Yorkville and Lenox Hill rather than the quiet of Park Avenue. When I was looking for an apartment on the UES, I didn't find that most brokers pretended that an apartment on 3rd or 2nd Avenue was what it wasn't. Yorkville is Yorkville, Lenox Hill is Lenox Hill and Park and Fifth are their own neighborhood.

Also as ccharley mentions, Carl Schurz park is a lovely alternative to Central Park. Very dog friendly, peaceful place to relax on a nice day.

NYRocks - talking about valuation here, yes, I agree, IF there is no other data available. But chances are, you have some in bldg comps to analyze. Walkups and townhouses sure, they should be lumped into a sub category and analyzed as a group...but my point was, dont mess around with measuring or quantifying how much a unit more east of another on E 86 should be discounted, immediately warranting X% of discount relative to is more western competition. Thats silly. So what r we saying here, 5% per avenue now? We cant add in a new adjustment, if data is limited in the first place. Every bldg is valued differently for varying reasons. Forget brokerspeak and comment sections with agendas...let the building or the immediate surrounding area speak for itself, but use caution how you start making adjustments for being a few avenues west of a comp you deem worthy for analysis to target unit. If there is not enough data, yes, I agree, expand outward but keep the variables as close to one another as possible. We already have to adjust for differences in layout, size, exposures, renovations, bldg amenities and financial condition, etc.

What I would like to see is a chart or data table as to median/avg sales prices for all bldgs on east 86, starting with west and ending with east. perhaps then we can recognize a trend, but we would have to separate each table by bldg type; walkups with walkups, elev with elev, f/s with f/s, etc. Still, why add another variable. Id rather stick to sales trends in bldg for a unit that is different than the target unit, then start adjusting for east/west relationships of a comp that is in an entirely diff bldg.

falco - Well at least we dont need to adjust for differences in exposures that much. Maybe the extra space has added river or park view, but lets assume thats not the case for this answer.

#1 - adjust for size. If the larger unit sold for $900/sft, I would multiply that by the added space that is marketed and come up with a size adjustment. In this example, $270,000.

#2 - adjust for floor. This is simple enough if there is no drastic diff in view/nat sunlight. Add $15,000 to $20,000 per floor. If there is drastic diff that rises, but if gap between two units is large, there is a diminishing return on the multiplier to be used.

#3 - adjust for the added bathroom. I dont what you want to give here, maybe $50k for the luxury of a full bath? $25k-30k to build it x 2 for the luxury?

Done. Bldg is same, exposures (levels of light/view) are virtually same,and if its a new dev resale, the condition is likely the same.

I would also argue that larger units are rarer, especially those with better views, so perhaps they should trade at a slight premium. Rooftop PHs w/ extra space, etc., are different game.