huge price variance at 315 East 68th Street

Even odder, the T line's bedroom is about 40 ft² bigger. Maybe the buildings opposite Q are prettier, giving it a better view.

As an agent, I've spent a lot of time doing comps and what I've found out is that sometimes, things sometimes just don't make sense. Different people have different motivations. Some sellers just want to sell as soon as possible and accept the first offer, while some wait to try to get a bidding war. For similar units on the same floor, this can result in different prices, especially when they are sold a few months apart. Additionally, it's possible that the T units are up against the adjacent building, while the Q units are facing the street, which would warrant a higher asking price. Although I tried, I cannot verify this, so it is just speculation.

If two identical layouts in the same building are on the market at the same time at different prices then there can only be a few reasons why. All other things being equal, the higher floor apartment tends to command the high price. In a building such as 315 East 68th which is almost 100 years old, different apartments with the same layout are almost certain to have vastly different maintenance and renovation histories. For example, the higher priced apartment may have new electricals, upgraded plumbing, and new hardwood flooring to name just a few. The BIG clincher and obvious question to ask relates to the condition of the bathroom(s) and kitchen. There are residents at 315 who moved in the day it opened as a rental building in 1931 and still pay rent (stabilized). For some of them, their bathrooms and kitchens may be as they were on opening day plus 88 years of wear and tear. Other apartments may have just had $40,000 poured into their kitchens. Differences in price between the same floorplan on different floors is almost always attributable to differences in condition and in some cases height in the building if the height difference is substantial. Any other difference is down to what one Fed Chairman called «irrational exuberance.»