390 listings with price change in 48hr on streeteasy

While there ARE a lot of legitimate and substantial price changes this week, a couple of caveats are in order:

1) There seemed be be a glitch with the broker feeds on Monday and Tuesday, so that several days' worth of price changes may have hit Streeteasy on Wednesday, which might be inflating the "past two days" stats.

2) Because of an apparent change to the matching algorithm(s) in the past week or so, relistings now seem more likely to be linked to the prior listing and recorded as price changes.

That said, seller psychology has taken a beating, even with the stock market rally of the past two days.

Both PH's at 8 USS took very large chops, yet the combo price is still what it was originally. So you can buy them both individually for 17.8 mil or the combined pair for 20 mill. Are these people asleep at the wheel?

West81st makes a good point about Monday/Tuesday. We had a few feeds that partially updated, but most were on time/complete.

We have just introduced a bunch of new matching so you can see links between past listings. We're still tuning it, so be patient. We have some other related new features in the works. However, those linkages don't ever trigger a price change. Price changes are always within the same listing.

streeteasy: I think this is an example, though I'm not sure it's a good one:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/16138-coop-204-w-85th-st-upper-west-side-new-york

The key attributes of the old and new listings match. But is it plausible that the apartment was on the market at the same price for over two years? Also, if you look at the building history, there are invening events that look like they may have been for the same apartment, but with slightly different details - most notably the rendering of the unit number.

The matching algorithms work quite well, but in certain cases I think they can be defeated by broker carelessness, or deviousness.

Actually, scratch my theory that the intervening events are related to the same apartment. That coop is a combination of several brownstones, so the unit numbering really IS inconsistent.

streeteasy, the new matching is a fantastic feature.

Tenemental: I second that kudo. The automated matching saves a lot of time and eyestrain. I didn't mean to make a big deal of the imperfections.

It's now 454 listings in 48 hrs. That sounds more like panic than it does computer glich.

I don't see how every broker in town wouldn't be recommending price drops. Buyers get it, so they'll be looking for it. And noone wants to be the last one in line heading for the exit...

Maybe a future version of the matching engine can recognize stale prose as well as the current version recognizes stale listings. Consider this example, just listed today at $4.595MM:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/350373-coop-151-central-park-west-upper-west-side-new-york
"Setting the standard for a luxury dwelling in Manhattan, this magnificent 3 to 4 bedroom home of baronial scale, located at CPWs most celebrated landmark address, displays serene City and oblique Central Park views. At the center of gorgeous renovation executed with a perfect balance of panache and logic is a brilliant double living room and dining room. The large, south-facing chefs eat-in kitchen..."

The description is eerily similar to this unsold $5.695MM listing from 2006:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/34826-coop-151-central-park-west-upper-west-side-new-york
"Setting the standard for a luxury dwelling in Manhattan, this magnificent 3 to 4 bedroom home of baronial scale, located at CPW's most celebrated landmark address, displays serene City and oblique Central Park views. At the center of gorgeous renovation executed with a perfect balance of panache and logic is a brilliant double living room and dining room. The large, south-facing chef's eat-in kitch..."

Same furniture too. It can't be the same apartment, though. That would mean Corcoran just priced a property 20% below where they listed it in 2006. And as Corcoran has clearly stated, there is no evidence of substantial market deterioration.

West81st, no need to explain. I wasn't responding to your contructive criticisms, just paying them a compliment. It was the first time (surprisingly) that I saw the matching feature being discussed.

Good thing that wasn't a 20% reduction since 2006 prices or anything...

streeteasy: Here's another example of a relisting that seems to have been identified as a price change: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/23613-condo-100-west-89th-street-upper-west-side-new-york

nyc10022: It's funny to see the disconnect between the Corcoran's official line and what their agents are doing in the field. In 2006, the firm would have defended that price as reflective of market trends. Now they would probably blame it on the seller's unrealistic expectations.