Price of an NYSE Seat Off 20% Since May

A seat on the New York Stock Exchange, the ticket for admission to trade on the world’s biggest such exchange, sold for $1.16 million on Tuesday, 20% below the record price of $1.45 million paid three months ago.

Falling seat prices are usually associated with declining markets, and the Dow Jones industrial average, made up of 30 NYSE stocks, declined 10% after reaching a record high in May. It has since rebounded; it rose 21.82 points Tuesday to 5,721.26.

Still, Big Board trading fell from its record levels of earlier this year. That means the potential for profits is lower for owners of the 1,366 seats on the NYSE. The number of seats has been fixed since 1953.

As with stocks, the Big Board sells seats according to values set with bid and asking prices. Currently the official bid price for an exchange seat is $1 million and the official sell price is $1.25 million. A month ago, the official bid price was $1.05 million and the official sell price was $1.225 million.

The exchange doesn’t release the names of buyers and sellers.