Infographic: NYCEDC Compares New York Real Estate And Art Sales

 

When it comes to art and residential real estate, it's not surprising that New York is home to many eye-popping sales in both markets. Though this chart from NYCEDC's February 2012 Economic Snapshot shows just how evenly those numbers match up side-by-side.

For instance, if you emptied your piggy bank last year and discovered that you had saved up around $40 million, you could have acquired Gustav Klimt's "Litzlberg am Attersee," which sold at Sotheby's for $40.44 million, or Andy Warhol's first self portrait, which went for $38.4 million at Christie's. If you were more in the mood for a new pad rather than a masterpiece, you could have set yourself up in the Harkness Mansion or 834 Fifth Avenue with a few mil to spare!

For a more a closer look at these findings, check out this NYCEDC's podcast featuring 3rd Ward writing teacher Grace Bello and Steven Giachetti of NYCEDC's Research and Analysis team. "If you look at it on a per square foot basis, obviously art is far more expensive than even the most prestigious apartments in New York City," Giaccetti says.

Here are a few other fascinating statistics from that snapshot:

• New York accounted for about one third of all global sales at Christie's and Sotheby's in 2011.

• NYC is also home to more than half of all art sales in the United States.

• Local auction houses Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips De Pury racked up a whopping $1.1 billion in sales of contemporary and impressionist art in just two weeks last November.

-- John Ruscher