New York City apartment living room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park

Representing Buyers Since 2001

Buy New York
with
someone
entirely
on
your side.

Independent advice, disciplined search and clear-eyed negotiation for one of life’s most consequential decisions.

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01 Independent Counsel

02 Private & Public Sourcing

03 New York, Block by Block

HELEN BY ELIKA

Describe your home. Out loud.

Tell HELEN what you are looking for and turn your words into a New York home search.

Meet HELEN

Recognized byPress coverage

The Wall Street Journal

YOUR NEW YORK, CONSIDERED

Let’s begin
with your
idea of home.

Start with how you want to live. Tell us about your day, your priorities and your idea of home.

You don’t need to know every neighborhood or have everything decided.

YOUR SEARCH, TAKING SHAPE

$3M · Location to explore

Prefer a conversation? 212-590-0540

Save this search for later

Still considering? Email yourself a private link and return within 30 days. Saving is optional and does not send your brief to an agent.

Email for your return link

Keep your return link private. Privacy policy

What purchase budget feels right?

This shapes the questions that follow. Choose either approach at any budget — we’ll help you explore neighborhoods or focus on specific buildings.

$3,000,000

How is the purchase funded?

Down payment 25%

Slide to the down payment you have in mind. Financing limits and liquidity requirements vary by lender and building.

Closing costs, planning estimate

Mansion tax · —

—

Estimated closing-cost allowance—

As a share of the price—

Monthly carry, estimatedRoughly per month—View breakdown +Hide breakdown −

Illustration only: 6.5% over 30 years, not a current rate quote. Annual charge allowances: 0.60% of price for condo, 0.65% for new development, 0.95% for co-op maintenance, or 0.60% for townhouse upkeep; separate tax allowance 0.80% for condos and townhouses. Replace these with the actual building and lender figures. Co-op maintenance includes building taxes.

How do you want to live?

Most search forms open with fifty-seven checkboxes. We'd rather understand the day first, then tell you which blocks fit.

Where do you need to be most mornings?

What should the block feel like near your home?

Within a ten-minute walk, what matters? Up to three.

Based on that, we'd start here.

Deselect anything that's wrong, add anything we missed. You know your life better than an algorithm does.

How close does the park need to be?

“Near Central Park” can mean very different things. Tell us whether the view, the address or the walk matters most.

Park exposure

Corridors you'd consider

The building decides the deal.

At this level the apartment is often the easy part. The board, the house rules and the financial requirements are what a purchase turns on.

Would you go through a co-op board?

Buildings you'd take a meeting on

Examples to discuss, not confirmed available homes. You can add another building below.

Post-closing liquidity Boards will ask.

Some buildings have substantial post-closing liquidity requirements. Share an approximate range, or discuss it privately; we’ll confirm the requirements for each building.

The residence itself.

The basics that narrow inventory fastest.

Ownership type

Your first-step choice is selected. Add another type if you’d like us to include it.

New development availability: agent to confirm.

Bedrooms, at minimum

Bathrooms, at minimum

Sizes can be checked against current listings.

How we check availability

We check public listings priced 10% below to 10% above your budget in your chosen areas. Property types use that price and area range; bedroom and bathroom choices also reflect your selected type and size.

Numbers mean “at least”: 2 bedrooms includes homes with 3 or more. Raising one minimum can narrow the other choices. Your agent will confirm new developments, private opportunities and building requirements.

Requirements Select any that are non-negotiable.

Building amenities

Choose your location, property type and bedrooms to check amenities.

What is checked?

A few homes to react to.

Which would you like to explore? Your choices help us understand your taste. This is optional.

Choose bedrooms to see examples.

A sample from the first page of public search results, not a complete shortlist. Availability and suitability need confirmation.

What gets sacrificed last?

Nothing in New York has everything. Drag the grip or use the arrows to put these in your real order. Your top three are what we defend when the trade-offs start.

The New York fine print.

These decide whether half the market is even available to you. Most forms never ask — which is why most search results waste your time.

Does any of this apply?

When do you want to be living there?

How would you like this handled?

How we work depends on how visible you want to be and which opportunities you want us to explore.

Discretion

Purchasing entity

Who else is at the table?

Timing

Here's your brief.

This is what an ELIKA buyer's agent reads before touching a single listing. Anything wrong, go back and change it.

Private search brief

Where should we send it?

Name Email

Phone (optional)City and country (optional)

Your location and browser time zone help coordinate a reply and review inquiries.

Anything else

✓

A Better Way to Buy New York City Luxury Real Estate.

Est. 2001, ELIKA has represented one side only: yours. We offer discerning clients something rare: truly independent guidance, bespoke search strategy, and expert market insight—with no conflicts of interest and no compromises.

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A Legacy of Loyalty. A New Era of Service.

An ELIKA reading of RealPlus data

ELIKA Barometer

Manhattan apartments
Resales and sponsor units
Through August 31, 2026
Dated snapshot · Not a live feed

01 · Conditions

Mixed signals

Component spread · 60 points

Supply: 40.0 / 100; Supply ranks in the historical middle third.
Activity: 100.0 / 100; High contracts relative to incoming listings.
Negotiation: 57.5 / 100; Combined discount and DOM rank is near the historical middle.

66 / 100

Combined historical pressure index

Higher means more seller-side pressure relative to the same season in the past decade. 50 means historically typical, not proven buyer–seller equilibrium.

02 · Momentum

Three-month comparison

+10.8 ptsChange in the index

This compares two seasonal index readings three months apart. It is not a rolling average or a percentage change in sales.

One-month comparison

−4.2 points versus the previous month.

Shorter and longer comparisons may point in different directions. Neither establishes a price trend.

Each month uses a different seasonal comparison set. Ten-observation ranks are coarse and can amplify short-term moves; index changes are not precise changes in negotiating power.

03 · Financing

7.03%

U.S. 30-year fixed benchmark

September 24, 2026 · +37 basis points since August 27, 2026.

National conforming-loan context—not a NYC jumbo quote. Shown separately; mortgage rates do not change the RealPlus score or its observation date.

Freddie Mac PMMS

What is behind the reading? Supply: 4.19 months, versus 3.38 for the median of the ten prior August readings. Three-month contracts/new-listings ratio: 0.817. A high ratio can reflect fewer incoming listings and does not itself establish unusually strong absolute demand. Average last-ask discount: 2.12%. Reported contract-cohort DOM: 109 days.

How the ELIKA Barometer is calculated

We compare each input with the same calendar month in the preceding ten years (August 2016–2025 for this reading). Its position among those ten observations becomes a 0–100 historical rank, with equal values sharing their rank. Lower supply, smaller discounts and shorter reported DOM point toward higher seller pressure; a higher contract/new-listing ratio does the same.

Three groups, each carrying one-third of the score
Group	Included measures	Group score
Supply	RealPlus reported monthly months of supply	40.0
Activity	Contracts signed ÷ new listings, both summed over three months	100.0
Negotiation	Equal average of last-ask discount and contract-cohort DOM ranks	57.5

(40.0 + 100.0 + 57.5) ÷ 3 = 65.83

We display the result rounded to a whole number. Each supply and activity group carries ⅓ of the total; discount and DOM each carry ⅙. These are transparent design weights, not statistically proven optimal weights. Inventory growth is context, not a second full supply vote. Mortgage rates are separate affordability context, not a score input.

How to read the scale: below 33⅓ is lower seller pressure relative to history; 33⅓–66⅔ is the middle historical band; above 66⅔ is higher seller pressure relative to history. These broad historical bands are not calibrated buyer/seller-market thresholds. A component spread of 90 points or more displays “Mixed signals” and “Wide component divergence” regardless of the combined band. The spread is the highest group score minus the lowest; the 90-point flag is a descriptive display convention, not a tested regime-transition threshold.

Rank resolution and momentum: without ties, each individual input rank moves in 10-point steps; ties and averaging create smaller steps in group and combined scores. We emphasize the three-month comparison and retain the one-month figure under its own expandable label. No smoothing or change to the calculation has been applied. Changing seasonal comparison sets also affects these differences; no probability or price prediction is implied.

Keep the measures distinct. The flow ratio is not a conversion rate for matched properties. Last-ask discount is not original-ask discount. DOM retains the vendor field label, not a claim of median first-list-to-contract time. The homepage and market-report Manhattan barometers use the same monthly apartment inputs, including resales and sponsor units. Annual/year-to-date snapshot figures cover a different period, so supply, discounts and DOM may differ.

Research limits: retrospective checks use revisable history, not an unrevised real-time archive. Sponsor inclusion reflects the RealPlus filter and available records; omissions, revisions and unreported concessions may affect the reading. The index does not establish a property's value or either party's actual bargaining power.

What does 50 mean?

A historical midpoint, not proven buyer–seller equilibrium. The index compares this borough with its own seasonal history; it is not a price forecast.

Source: RealPlus Market Analytics for property observations; ELIKA calculation and interpretation. Monthly apartment reports through August 31, 2026, retrieved September 27, 2026. Scope: Manhattan co-op and condominium apartments, including resales and sponsor units. Townhouses are excluded. Brooklyn’s separate reading is on the market report page. Latest observations are preliminary and history may be revised. Financing source is separately dated. Not an appraisal or an individualized buying recommendation.

Explore the market reports

Manhattan Closed Sales · January–August 2026

Manhattan market at a glance.

Manhattan apartment closed sales through August 31, 2026. These year-to-date measures describe the homes that sold, not individual-property appreciation.

Average sale price

$2.20M

Up 3.9% vs. full-year 2025 mix

Median sale price

$1.29M

Up 7.7% vs. full-year 2025 mix

Reported months of supply

6.24

RealPlus annual-period measure

Reported days on market

103

Closed-sale cohort · Jan–Aug 2026

Average listing discount

4.73%

Below original asking price · Jan–Aug 2026

Bright apartment interior with an open kitchen, dining area and living room

Inside New York Real Estate

The right home is more than a beautiful interior.

Design may begin the conversation. The building, finances, monthly carry, block and long-term value determine whether it is the right New York purchase.

Explore Buyer Representation

Why ELIKA

The listing shows you the property. We show you the decision.

In New York, value lives beyond the photographs—in the building’s finances, the board, the block, the monthly carry and the terms you negotiate.

ELIKA brings more than two decades of New York experience to every client relationship. We bring the market intelligence and candor to tell you when to move decisively—and when to walk away.

Why Buyer Representation Matters

The ELIKA Difference

A smarter path
from brief to keys.

Considered at every step. Candid when it matters. Personal from the first conversation to closing day.

Define the brief

We translate your priorities—lifestyle, architecture, investment profile, timing—into a focused acquisition strategy.

Curate the market

We filter public, coming-soon and relationship-driven opportunities so your time is spent only on credible contenders.

Interrogate the value

We examine pricing, building history, financials, risks and resale potential before emotion becomes commitment.

Secure the right terms

From offer strategy through diligence, board approval and closing, we coordinate the details and negotiate for you.

How We Advise

Expertise built around your objective.

One city. Many ways to buy it. Your strategy should reflect the outcome you actually want.

Condos · Co-ops · Townhouses

Primary residences

A home search shaped around the way you want to live—not the inventory someone needs to sell.

Explore → 02

Yield · Value · Risk

Investment acquisitions

Clear-eyed analysis of price, rental demand, carrying costs and long-term exit potential.

Explore → 03

New York · Global Perspective

International buyers

Discreet local representation for clients navigating ownership, financing and tax considerations from abroad.

Explore →

SELECTED CLIENT TRANSACTIONS

Real homes. Recorded transactions.

Cobble Hill

192 Warren Street, Townhouse

$8,100,000

Recorded deed consideration
Deed date: September 4, 2025

ELIKA’s role: seller representation

A renovated townhouse with an owner’s triplex, a garden-level apartment and a south-facing garden. Gea Elika represented the seller in the $8.1 million sale, documented in the September 2025 deed.

Sale details · City deed record →

West Chelsea

532 West 20th Street, Residence 3

$7,126,393.75

Recorded deed consideration
Deed date: April 20, 2022

ELIKA’s role: buyer representation

A full-floor condominium with four bedrooms and a substantial south-facing terrace. ELIKA’s purchase record documents buyer representation for a home combining interior scale with private outdoor space.

Purchase details · City deed record →

NoHo

40 Bleecker Street, Apt 9B

$7,188,845

Recorded deed consideration · apartment + parking
Deed date: December 11, 2020

ELIKA’s role: buyer representation

A northwest-corner, three-bedroom condominium with three-and-a-half baths. ELIKA’s purchase announcement records access to Schedule A family-and-friends pricing; the deed includes the apartment and a parking space.

Purchase details · City deed record →

Amounts and dates above come from the NYC Department of Finance’s ACRIS deed records and may differ from the contract prices shown in historical portfolio entries. ELIKA’s role and property notes are based on its transaction history. These are completed purchases and sales, not current listings.

IN OUR CLIENTS’ WORDS

The relationship lasts beyond the closing.

ONE CLIENT · ABOUT THIRTEEN YEARS APART

Natasha Shick

2026

“We have worked with Elika for all of our home investments over the last 20 years for our growing family whether buying or selling.”

Review excerpt

c. 2013

“I used Elika Associates to purchase my first investment property in Manhattan. Currently, this property is generating great income.”

“He's a real professional and an amazing negotiator.”

Review excerpts

NEGOTIATION

Michelle DiPuma

“As a lawyer, I am embarrassed that Amy negotiates better than me. When I made an offer on a unit in a new development, she got the developer to pay taxes and fees that they usually do not "budge on".”

Review excerpt

CO-OP PURCHASE

Josh Moore

“We ended up getting an offer accepted well below asking on a beautifully renovated co-op apartment that was perfect for me, at which point the board approval process began - which is rather strict at the new building. Gea worked with me to put together an airtight board package that resulted in an approval.”

Review excerpt

Client experiences, in their own words. Earlier dates are approximate, based on Google’s displayed review ages.

“Our job isn’t to sell you a property. It’s to protect the quality of your decision.”

Gea Elika founded ELIKA on a simple belief: buyers deserve an advocate whose advice is shaped by their interests, not by a listing. More than two decades later, that standard still guides every search.

Meet Gea Elika →

A New York Icon · West Village

Great architecture is only the beginning.

A remarkable building can capture your attention. Understanding its financials, monthly carry, purchase history and long-term value is what turns a beautiful property into a sound decision.

Explore 160 Leroy Explore all buildings

Curved modern facade of 160 Leroy Street condominium in the West Village — 160 Leroy · West Village

Buy New York with someone entirely on your side.

Describe your home. Out loud.

ELIKA Real Estate media recognition

Let’s begin with your idea of home.

What purchase budget feels right?

How do you want to live?

Based on that, we'd start here.

How close does the park need to be?

The building decides the deal.

The residence itself.

A few homes to react to.

What gets sacrificed last?

The New York fine print.

How would you like this handled?

Here's your brief.

A Better Way to Buy New York City Luxury Real Estate.

ELIKA Barometer

Mixed signals

Three-month comparison

7.03%

Manhattan market at a glance.

The right home is more than a beautiful interior.

The listing shows you the property. We show you the decision.

A smarter path from brief to keys.

Define the brief

Curate the market

Interrogate the value

Secure the right terms

Expertise built around your objective.

Primary residences

Investment acquisitions

International buyers

Real homes. Recorded transactions.

192 Warren Street, Townhouse

532 West 20th Street, Residence 3

40 Bleecker Street, Apt 9B

The relationship lasts beyond the closing.

Michelle DiPuma

Josh Moore

“Our job isn’t to sell you a property. It’s to protect the quality of your decision.”

Great architecture is only the beginning.

Let’s begin with what matters to you.

Buy New York
with
someone
entirely
on
your side.

Let’s begin
with your
idea of home.

A smarter path
from brief to keys.

Let’s begin with
what matters to you.