One57 Developer

Extell Development Co., whose One57 skyscraper set a record with a $100.5 million penthouse sale in 2014, is finding buyers are more scarce now, even for its lower-priced projects. At the Kent, under construction on 95th Street near Third Avenue, 5 percent discounts are being offered as a way “to incentivize people to pull the trigger,” Extell President Gary Barnett said. Prices for the market-rate units start at $2.46 million for a 1,293-square-foot, two-bedroom condo, according to attorney general filings.

Barnett’s making the same discount available to buyers at One Manhattan Square, an 815-unit downtown project where the asking prices on most condos had already been reduced this year. A one-bedroom apartment with outdoor space on the lowest available floor is listed for $1.65 million, down from an initial $2.05 million, filings show.

“There’s no negotiation,” Barnett said of the additional 5 percent offer. “That’s what we’re giving -- not less, not more.”

Other incentives amount to a discount while not cutting the apartment price. Some builders are paying the buyer’s transfer taxes and throwing in extras such as storage units, said Martin Jajan, a Manhattan attorney who represents high-net-worth overseas investors.

Jajan said his clients have grown more wary, sensing that the market’s four-year run-up in prices can’t continue indefinitely. One client has opted to buy several smaller homes in a mix of neighborhoods rather than a single trophy property, while another chose to rent apartments at both One57 and nearby 432 Park Ave. before committing to a purchase, he said.

Penthouse Parties

Developers also are increasingly courting real estate agents, hosting parties at penthouses and offering gifts as a way of getting customers through the door.

At a June event showcasing 50 United Nations Plaza’s duplex penthouse -- on the market for $70 million since 2013 -- Zeckendorf Development LLC raffled off a weekend at the Miami Beach Edition hotel to brokers who attended. In July, the builder gave a party on a concrete slab at its under-construction tower at 520 Park Ave., inviting brokers in hard hats to sample the view from the 29th floor of the skeletal building, where prices start at $16.2 million. A Zeckendorf representative didn’t comment.

“Every single day in my inbox, I get private invitations,” Teplitzky of Douglas Elliman said. “If I wanted to get breakfast, lunch and dinner and not spend a dime at a restaurant, I could say yes to all the presentations, all the cocktail parties, you name it.”