Even the builders these days want to move to the city from the suburbs.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL), the largest U.S. luxury-home builder, said its fiscal second-quarter profit more than doubled as it was able to raise prices and sell more homes.

“Current demographics seem to suggest that new home sales should pick up,” Executive Chairman Robert Toll said Wednesday. “If the tight supply bumps into increasing demand, prices could rapidly rise.”

Those prices are already rising in New York City at Toll's high-end Pierhouse project in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

pierhouse
An apartment at Toll Brothers' Pierhouse project in Brooklyn sold for more than $11 million, before it was even built. Toll Bros.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Toll has raised prices at the project six times since February and is now asking an average of $1,800 per square foot. The newspaper said that more than 40 of the 108 units are already under contract. That includes a contract to pay $11,180,000 for a four-bedroom penthouse with more than 5,000 square feet of space, plus a 3,400-square-foot garden and patio.

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