Metro

Christmas trees cost as much as $6,500 in New York City

It’s the most wonderful time — to go broke for a Christmas tree.

Manhattan vendor Soho Trees is slinging what seems to be the city’s most expensive Tannenbaum: $6,500 for a single 20-foot Fraser fir.

That’s the same as three Luis Vuitton bags.

“A 20-footer will set you back about $6,500 including delivery and installation,” said Scott Lechner, sales manager of the Soho Trees lot at the corner of Varick and Canal Streets.

But the longtime tree seller insisted the sky-high price — at $325 per foot — doesn’t faze his clients.

“We’re sold out,” he said, adding that the big timbers were mostly bought out by customers with penthouses, as well as some going into building lobbies.

But head a few blocks east and you’ll “only” pay $2,000 for a 20-footer at East Village’s Tree Riders NYC, according to a worker.

The hefty price tags can be blamed on a shortage of the favored Fraser fir this year.

During the economic crash of 2008, farmers in North Carolina’s Smokey and the Blue Ridge Mountains planted fewer Frasers, resulting in fewer of the trees now reaching maturity, according to the National Christmas Tree Association spokesperson Doug Hundley.

At Manhattan’s Tyler’s Trees, which has a storefront on 10th Avenue and 44th Street, a single 16-foot Fraser fir will run you $1,499 including delivery, installation, and set-up.

Tree sellers at Uptown Christmas Trees, which has 19 spread throughout upper Manhattan, have raised the price of their 12-foot Frasers to $300 — up $100 from last year.

Vendor Heather Neville — who bills herself as the NYC Tree Lady — upped her Fraser prices by 20 percent to $850. But the price reaches closer to $1,300 once delivery, installation, stand and tip are all added.

“It’s the biggest increase I’ve seen since I’ve been doing this,” said Neville, who’s been in the business for 16 years and operates three lots in Greenwich Village, Nolita, and Chelsea.

She also pointed at big-box stores like Home Depot for driving up prices by buying out the measly crop of Frasers in bulk.

“It’s killing us,” said Neville. “They don’t make a living off Christmas trees, but we do.”

Despite the shocking charges, locals are still scrambling to get their hands on the fragrant and robust tree.

“The demand is higher than ever,” said Harold DeLucia, the owner of Tyler’s Trees and NYC Trees, which charges $1,429 for a 16-foot Fraser. “Business has already surpassed profits from last year.”

Besides, said one Upper West Side shopper named Linda: “What’s Christmas without a tree?”