NYC's Luxury Condo Boom Accelerates

Pads for jillionaires are going up everywhere.

Ultraluxury housing and construction is booming across Manhattan, which is now beginning to rival London in popularity with the world’s wealthy. The number of condominium buildings in the borough with apartments selling for more than $15 million has risen to 49, up from 33 in 2009, according to CityRealty. And an additional 20 or so are under construction or in planning. The growth in high-end projects in Manhattan comes as housing for the working and middle class is in increasingly short supply in the city. These buildings are proving so profitable that they are warping the local real-estate market, making it more difficult to put up more-affordable housing.

Key quote from the article: "There are only two markets, ultraluxury and subsidized housing."