Blink and you might have missed a string of recent changes to listings on StreetEasy.
In September, the platform introduced a new tool for agents to input all of the costs associated with renting an apartment. On the front end, the additions appear below the asking rent via the hyperlinked phrase “see full breakdown,” which opens a pop-up showing the amount due monthly and the upfront fees required to rent the apartment.
The update came on the heels of chatter among agents claiming StreetEasy had removed the Days on Market metric from for-sale listings. The count, however, is still featured, though much less prominently. It’s now under the Property History section in a bulleted list alongside Price Change.
While the changes to its interface may seem small, they mark the Big Apple-exclusive changes amid industry-wide conversations about the finer points of how brokers market their listings. StreetEasy has been fine-tuning its platform in recent months to fit a new set of circumstances.
It added the cost breakdown on rental listings in response to New York City’s FARE Act, which bars agents hired by landlords from charging tenants broker fees. A spokesperson for StreetEasy said the new tool will make it easier for agents to comply with the law and enhance transparency for tenants.
But the change to Days on Market has been accompanied by different interpretations. Some pointed to its rumored absence as the platform buckling under pressure from Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, who has publicly disavowed the metric as potentially damaging to a seller’s prospects.
However, a spokesperson for Streeteasy said the choice to move Days on Market was a practical one, not a response to push back against its inclusion. (It’s worth noting that Reffkin’s brokerage, Compass, is suing Zillow, the parent company of StreetEasy, over a policy banning agents from listing properties once marketed as private exclusives on the platform, a policy the company adopted in after Compass announced its three-phased marketing plan. StreetEasy denies the policy was enacted to target any one brokerage.)
The spokesperson added that the platform decided to concentrate the top metrics on costs associated with purchasing the home.
“Feedback from buyers shows they’re looking to understand pricing information first and foremost — such as price, square footage, and estimated monthly costs — which informed this update,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
StreetEasy did, however, adjust the period required to reset days on market, shortening the timeframe from 90 days to 30 days, bringing it more in line with Zillow.
Not so fast…
Barbara Corcoran’s latest trade proves the real estate icon knows what she’s doing.
The brokerage founder and “Shark Tank” cast member found a buyer for her Upper East Side co-op just one day after putting it on the market and sparking a bidding war. The sale closed earlier this week for $13.5 million — more than $1 million over its asking price.
The deal was a flip for Corcoran, who bought the five-bedroom penthouse for $10 million in 2015 and spent $2 million on renovations.
Corcoran’s 3,800-square-foot home was featured on CNBC back in 2020, when she gave her fellow “Shark Tank” star, Kevin O’Leary a tour. However the apartment’s hallmarks — a lush terrace overlooking Central Park and a glass solarium — weren’t exhibited in their full glory until earlier this summer, when her home made the rounds on social media again after she listed it.
Corcoran invited Caleb Simpson, an influencer known for asking strangers for tours of their apartments, to feature her home on his social media channels.
“Welcome to my penthouse,” Corcoran said in a video posted to Simpson’s YouTube channel, standing in front of a dining table in the solarium. “I’ve lived here for seven years, but if you want it, and you’ve got $12 million in your pocket to spend, I’ll sell it to you.”
Corcoran’s deal closed on the heels of a period of gains for co-ops in Manhattan, which logged a 6 percent annual uptick in signed contracts in September, according to Miller Samuel’s monthly report for Douglas Elliman. Listings for the property type in the borough also rose 6 percent year-over-year.
NYC Deal of the Week
The most expensive deal to hit city records this week was a tie between two units at 220 Central Park South — though the condos, one directly below the other, could be headed for a combination. Unit Nos. 25A and 24A each traded for $16.2 million, which if purchased by the same buyer, would bring the total to $32 million.
The buyers listed in the city register are two different shell companies, though the contracts were signed on the same day. Unit 25A last traded for $13 million in 2018, while 24A sold for just under $12 million the same year.
Corcoran’s Deborah Kern had the listings.
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