Manhattan’s townhouse market has struggled in recent years. In 2016, there were 454 deals valued at $3.1 billion compared to 492 deals totaling $4.2 billion in 2015 (source: townhouse brokerage Leslie J. Garfield). And 2017 wasn’t much better — only 100 contracts signed for townhouses asking $4 million and up, representing an 11 percent drop from 2016 (Source: Olshan Realty).

But there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. The following record-setting deals in 2017 have boosted townhouse market confidence for 2018:

1. In February 2017, real estate honcho Andrew Farkas sold his townhouse at 12 East 73rd Street for $41 million.
2. In March, Japanese billionaire Bungo Shimada sold his mansion at 7 East 76th Street for $41.5 million, or just shy of $3,000 per square foot.
3. And then in April, art heir David Wildenstein sold his mansion at 12 East 69th Street for $79.5 million in April 2017, setting a new record for the priciest townhouse ever sold in Manhattan.

Buoyed by those deals, sellers have started to list and/or remarket their mansions  — for instance, last fall, developer Joseph Chetrit listed a trio of townhouses on East 76th Street, asking $39 million, $44 million and $51 million each. And in December, real estate investor Keith Rubenstein lowered his home at 8 East 62nd Street to $79.5 million from $84.5 million.

Another bright spot is the deals happening outside the East Side’s Gold Coast — namely Central Harlem which saw a six-story townhouse at 208 Lenox Avenue sold for $4.6 million, setting a new benchmark for the area.