Five contracts were signed last week at $4 million and above, 3 more than the previous week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and the week before that. In other words, we have finally broken the spell of 2 signed contracts each week for 4 weeks in a row.

State Geek Alert: Only 1 co-op contract was signed in the last 5 weeks, something we haven’t seen since we started keeping track in 2010.

The No. 1 contract was 4/5 at 595 West End Avenue, asking $9.5 million, which has been on and off the market at various points since 2012, when it was asking $11.975 million. The prewar duplex condo is a combination of 7 units that total 5,859 square feet. In 2007, the owner paid a total $5,192,460 for 4ABCD and 5A, and then in 2010 purchased 5CD for $1.5 million. The apartment was renovated, and is configured as 5 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, a kitchen with a large island that opens onto the dining room, a media room, a gym with a kitchenette, a playroom, library, and office. The unit has central air conditioning and common charges and taxes total $13,873 per month. Amenities include a doorman and bike rom. Jennifer Kalish of Douglas Elliman represented the seller and buyer. When asked about further details, she emailed: “Unfortunately thats all I am at liberty to disclose, according to the DE PR DEPARTMENT.”

The No. 2 contract was the 2nd floor at 102 Prince Street, asking $8.5 million, reduced from $9.9 million when the unit was listed in July. This is a 4,500-square-foot condo in a prewar loft. It has 2 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 14-foot ceilings, and a living room with a fireplace. The seller was represented by Adam Modlin of Modlin Group and the buyer by Michael Lubin of Brown Harris Stevens. Both brokers declined to comment, but the circumstances of the sale are insightful.

The seller paid $13.8 million in February 2014, and was part of a US Department of Justice sale of seized property from the Malaysian fugitive financier, Jho Low. In October, the Justice Department reached a settlement with Low’s attorneys to recover $900 million out of the $2.7 billion in funds that the fugitive and his family had misappropriated from 2009-2015 from the Malaysian investment fund 1MDB. Mr. Low is believed to be living in China and the seized properties include high-end real estate in Beverly Hills, New York, and London, a $120-million yacht, jets, artwork, and other assets in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Money also helped finance the film The Wolf of Wall Street. Caught up in one of the largest multi-year international kleptocracy cases in the United States were officials in Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank.

Stay safe, folks!