At the peak of the Manhattan real-estate boom in 2007, the average new condo—from studios to penthouses—was 1,265 square feet. Now, new condos average 1,564 square feet, a 24% increase, said Kelly Kennedy Mack, president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
The big condos, increasingly expensive and brimming with high-end details and amenities, are being built in converted garages and walk-ups, as well as part of new, ground-up construction across much of Manhattan.
"The premium for larger contiguous space drives all development now," Jonathan Miller, an appraiser and market analyst.
This demand in turn is driving land costs higher, making it difficult to build smaller condos economically in many neighborhoods, they say.
One measure of the change: The average apartment size at One57, the huge tower on West 57th Street, was 3,600 square feet, about 70% larger than the average at another premier condo, the Time Warner Center, when it went on the market in 2001, Ms. Mack said.
"In New York, space is the ultimate status symbol," she said.
Developers say that they are responding to the market—strong demand by the buyers in the upper end of the 1%. The new buyers, say brokers, include international clients looking for investment-grades properties, and local families, who after years of falling crime improving quality of life, want to stay in New York to raise families, or return there when their children head off to college.
The trend toward bigger condos unfolds amid a changing political tone in New York, with Mayor-elect Bill De Blasio seeking new attention to economic inequality and voters this week citing worries about affordability.
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