If you just can’t get enough of m127, read this

This poorly illuminated photo may give you some idea of the crowd.

In the event you want to see the official press release from Paramount Realty USA on yesterday’s auction of six condos at the building called 127m, at 127 Madison Ave., I figured I’d make available the first nearly two and a half pages of the eight-page document issued by its public relations firm (the remainder being even more fluff).

But first, I’d like to point out that I’m always tempted to say an auction can be the best determinant of market value.  Unfortunately, there are so many anomalies to such sales–e.g. auction fever, number of bidders, terms–that I have my doubts.

One example of a different sort of anomaly at the m127 auction was the winning bid for the first of the two units yet to be sold.

Although the otherwise identical sixth-floor condo went for $1.234 million (including buyer’s premium), the fifth-floor unit was hammered down for more money: $1.244 million. Then, the last apartment reverted to the pattern established by the three previously sold units on higher floors, which went for progressively lower prices; the winning bid was $1.229 million.

Now, for the press release, reproduced verbatim:

m127 auction enjoys brisk bidding, modest prices

Hiding in the dark at the left is the auctioneer (thanks to my limited flash).

An estimated 250 individuals filled the room in which six new condos listed for a total of $12.25 million in a building called m127 went up for auction today.

In bidding that accelerated in mere seconds before nearly reaching the final price, the units at 127 Madison Ave. sold for $8,431,500 including a 5 percent buyer’s premium.  The total represented a discount of 31 percent.

Excluding the penthouse, the price per square foot averaged $821, which strikes me as rather low for a condo in that area, but the building’s does have its drawbacks. (Because the penthouse sale is unconfirmed, I’m pretty much leaving it out in this post.)

In fact, comparing condo sales in the building’s zip code (10016), the average for two-bedroom apartments, of which only two traded in the last month, is $1,216 per square foot, according to the Online Residential (OLR) database. But I’m not positive whether that is a contract or asking price (and there’s a big difference, as you know).

For all condos in 10016, the average per square foot is $1,116 versus two bedrooms in the whole borough: $1,223.

According to the Miller Samuel appraisal firm, the average price per square foot for all Manhattan condos was $1,154 in the first quarter.  And the median sale price of two-bedroom condos was $1.330 million.

For the five two-bedroom condos sold at the auction, the median was $1.244 million; the average was $1,276,800.

Five of the units were offered without a reserve.  They were hammered down at prices ranging in descending order of $1.417 million for the 1,554-sf two-bedroom, two-bath apartment on the eighth floor to $1.229 million for the approximately same-size unit on the second floor.  (Prices include the buyer’s premium.)

The 2,255-sf  penthouse, which has three bedrooms, two and a half baths and a 338-sf terrace, went for only $2,049,500, subject to the developer’s approval; its listed price was $3.4 million, and the discount amounts to 40 percent.