Bonus money flowing into Manhattan real estate

While some have noted a general softening of real estate in the New York market, the flood of Wall Street bonus money at least seems to be softening the fall.  These huge cash payouts are apparently even sparking bidding wars for some real estate properties in New York. 

Keith Copley, of Sotheby's International Realty in Manhattan, is seeing bidding wars, mostly among young hedge fund players. "The bonuses are rolling in and people are going crazy." Three are competing for a "celebrity style loft" called the Glass Farmhouse, with views of the Hudson River, for sale for about $8 million. "All these guys are in their thirties," he says, and he expects a deal soon.

Daniel Loeb, who runs hedge fund firm Third Point, recently bought a brownstone in Greenwich Village for $13 million and never moved in. He listed it for $19 million this month, a hefty mark-up. Loeb just bought another property, a $47 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West, a condo building being built on the site of the former Mayflower hotel.

"15 Central Park West has had more than $1 billion in sales in the past week alone," says Copley. The developers have said they have sold more than half of the building's 200 apartments, including 14 apartments at more than $20 million each.

Dolly Lenz, vice-chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, is seeing the trend trickle down to those with "smaller bonuses" of $4 million or so. She recently sold 20 units in one building, 55 Wall Street, a full-service Cipriani Club Residence, which will have both formal and casual dining rooms, an intimate bar to serve Cipriani's trademark Bellini, a screening room featuring the latest Hollywood releases and an old-world, European-style hair salon and barber shop.

"These guys are getting paid in January and February but they are using all their bonus money to buy and rent out apartments. It's the usual suspects -- Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Chase, the hedge fund guys. "Another client, aged 33, received a $26 million bonus and bought in Southampton, on the ocean, for $37 million....

Wall Streeters ignore the bubble and snap up luxury units - The Australian

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