Developers Cease To Offer Condo Incentives

BY JULIE SATOW
Published: May 11, 2012

THREE months ago, when Wei Min Tan, a broker at Rutenberg Realty, negotiated a deal for a new $3 million three-bedroom condominium at the Aldyn on the Upper West Side, he was able to save his buyers $95,000 in transfer taxes and other costs, as well as to finagle a free storage space.

But now, Mr. Tan said: “I don’t know if I could get the same deal. Literally a month ago, the market turned, and there is now a feeding frenzy.”

The optimism that has washed over the New York real estate market this spring has swept up new developments in its wake. As recently as late last year, buyers could expect to negotiate with developers on price and closing costs like taxes and legal fees. But these incentives are rapidly drying up, buyers, brokers and developers say.