Both Property Grunt and Curbed have the links and the scoop on how a new law that was just passed which allows for recent New York City Co-op sales prices to be (are) available for free to the public via ACRIS.
What does this mean for Consumers?
Consumers can now do their own homework on recent sales for any Co-op that sold in Manhattan within the last 3 years (currently 2004 till present). That means that asking brokers, doormen, supers, managing agents, or their neighbors for sales price gossip is no longer needed. All they have to do is go to ACRIS and find the info themselves. This means if they want to know what their neighbors home sold for, now they can. If they are in the market to buy a Co-op, now they can check all the recent sales for comps to see if the current asking prices for similar apts within that building are priced realistically or not. It’s just a first step in helping them understand the market. In order to really make the best decisions for buying and selling in NYC, a consumer should work with a Manhattan Real Estate Broker that has knowledge and market expertise that goes beyond sales comps.
What does this mean for Manhattan Brokers and Agents?
This means that they have to provide savvy customers and clients with more personal service and expertise. The access to these comps is what most people wanted to find out from brokers whether buying or selling anyway. This is a great time for brokers and agents to really showcase themselves as professionals by helping these savvy consumers further interprete the recent sales data.
Update:
The New York Observer has a post about how New York City’s Property Shark will enhance the raw data of recent Co-op sales on their site: The Shark Solves Co-op Chaos
