Buyers are flocking to new construction, including Carroll Gardens' Sackett Union.

Remember the days when condo developers were sinking shiny new celebratory shovels into the ground every other day and the line of buyers eagerly waiting to sign their names to deeds seemed endless? Well, we may not be in in boom times quite yet, but we are definitely out of bust times and the buyers are once again lining up to sign deeds for as-yet unbuilt condos in hot neighborhoods, The New York Times reports.

One of the most popular condo projects mentioned by The Times include 200 East 79th Street, which opened for sales last month and now has 25 of its 39 units in contact. Also going like hot cakes are the town houses and condos at Sackett Union, a Carroll Gardens project that opened sales in late August. A month later, half of the units were in contract.

Other condo projects that can, at best, offer potential buyers a model unit and some floor plans, are seeing such strong sales, according to The Times, that they've been raising prices on the units every month. This has been happening for some time, of course, with super-luxe buildings—take One57's stellar sales record (if we can focus on that again after the crane near-catastrophe) and 18 Gramercy Park, which sold more than half its units in a few months, then promptly raised prices. But as of last December, the market for trophies and other super-prime properties has come roaring back at a rate that has yet to be duplicated by the luxury market's lower echelons.

But the rising rates of more run-of-the-mill condo sales (they're basically all luxury as well, of course, but well within the lower realms) suggests that all of the luxury real estate market may be on its way to rebounding.

The only problem with buying new (or unfinished) construction, of course, is that you're never sure exactly what you'll be getting. Beautiful glass curtain walls may leak, common charges may balloon and views may disappoint.

kvelsey@observer.com

Familiar interiors for the A.M. Stern fans.

It appears we underestimated the appeal of a key to Gramercy Park. Although we expect there's probably more than access to a gated garden that's driving sales at 18 Gramercy Park, the new condo conversion from the Zeckendorf/Robert A.M. Stern team. The 16-unit building had six units, all of them listed for more than $14.5 million, go into contract last week, according to Olshan Realty's Luxury Market report (although the units most likely went into contract sometime over the past month).

The most expensive unit, a duplex penthouse listed for $42 million, went into contract earlier this month, reportedly for the full $42 million ask to Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. And while $42 million might look like a steal compared to the prices paid at 15 Central Park West, the Zeckendorf's other collaboration with A.M. Stern, it's an impressive get. A downtown record, in fact.

It's not Central Park, but you do get your very own key.

So what of these other units? Well, they're all floor throughs, but that's no surprise given that the building has 14 of them, plus the penthouse and a maisonette. A look at streeteasy reveals seven units in contract, including the 14th floor and 12th floors (listed for $17.7 million and $17.4 million respectively), a $16.5 million four-bedroom on the ninth floor, a $15.4 million four-bedroom on the second, a fifth-floor residence listed for $15 million and a fourth-floor spread asking $14.8 million. As many units were listed for the first time as already in contract at the end of last week, we're guessing that 18 Gramercy Park has been selling these beauties since early they first came on the market on September 4. Or maybe they really did just have the best week in all history.

So is there anything left for those with key lust and more than $10 million to burn? A floor-through on the 15th is asking $18.75 million, although that's $900,000 more than it was asking a week ago. Apparently cheered by the successful sales of the other units, the Zeckendorfs upped the ask from $17.8 million. The sixth and third floor units are also still available, and a few units—the 15th, the maisonette have yet to make their appearance on the market (although that doesn't mean that they're not there). Not all the units show up on streeteasy; we hear that the developers are not holding any units back. (The maisonette, the least expensive unit at $9.25 million, has yet to be snapped up, to our knowledge at least).

The units, or more precisely, the only unit that's shown in the renderings, looks lovely. We guess they would have to be to bring so many eager buyers. And while a conversion doesn't always stir the same excitement as new construction, at least the Parkside Evangeline, the former hotel that occupied the building for years, has a nice ring to it. Better sounding, at least, than the former St. Vincent's Hospital (although that hasn't seemed to slow sales either).

kvelsey@observer.com