The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday that existing home sales rose 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48 million units last month. September’s sales pace was revised down to 5.37 million units from the previously reported 5.39 million units. The median existing-home price for all housing types in October rose 5.5 percent to $247,000, making October the 68th month in a row to see year-over-year gains.

A historic townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan boasting a slew of notable residents, has hit the market with an asking price of $US39 million. That’s a big price, but so is the pedigree of the 12,745-square-foot Beaux Arts mansion at 4 East 74th Street.

Anytime you can say that Michael Jackson used to live here, which the King of Pop did in the 1990s, or that this classic UES townhome welcomed artist Marc Chagall — as the listing description claims — it’s a real estate tale worth telling.

Yet even without such notable residents, the property merits interest from NYC real estate aficionados. The home is currently owned by Marc Lasry, a billionaire and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. The sale comes 13 years after he purchased the historic property for $11 million in 2001.

Listed by Adam Modlin and Nina of the Modlin Group, and featured in Curbed, the 25-foot-wide mansion was built in 1898 and owned by President Grover Cleveland’s law partner, Francis Lynde Stetson. It is located just off Central Park between Fifth and Madison avenues.

There are 7 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, 2 powder rooms and staff rooms, too. Original details include an oak staircase, 10 wood-burning fireplaces, oak wood floors and stained and leaded glass windows. And yes, there is central air.

Source:  StreetEasy