Contact me here for assistance with buying or selling a home in Manhattan.
Manhattan Trends:
- Market-wide, sales fell by 7% annually to 2,797 closings, the most moderate year-over-year decline of 2018.
- This was the lowest fourth quarter closings total since 2011, and the first time since then that fourth quarter closings failed to reach 3,000 transactions. This is also the first time since 2009 that closings have fallen year-over-year for four consecutive quarters.
- Sales volume dipped 5% year-over-year to $5.63 billion. This drop was less pronounced than the one for number of closings because of an increase in sales over $5M.
- Contracts signed fell 12% annually as some buyers continued to hesitate. Only 2,309 contracts were signed this fall, the slowest fourth quarter since 2011.
- Several factors delayed buyers’ decision making, including the midterm elections and concerns over growing financial market risk.
- Marketing times lengthened when compared to last year. Apartments that closed in Fourth Quarter 2018 spent an average of 108 days on the market, the highest end-of-year reading since 2012.
Brooklyn Trends:
- Brooklyn ended 2018 with sales slowing slightly overall – but also shifting to lower-cost areas. Overall sales dipped 6% year-over-year and all product types saw fewer transactions.
- With the high prices in neighborhoods close to Manhattan – compounded by tax reform and rising mortgage rates – buyers continued to seek value in areas with more affordable price points. These parts of Brooklyn had robust sales activity and further price appreciation.
- However, the pace at which value-seeking buyers transacted was not fast enough to prop up sales compared to Fourth Quarter 2017, which was the strongest fourth quarter in the last ten years.
- While contract activity fell 2% below last year’s number, this modest decline is a demonstration of resiliency compared to Manhattan, where contracts declined 12% this quarter.
- Borough-wide price statistics decreased during Q4. Median price was down 3%, and average price was 2% lower – both year-over-year.
- These price declines were mainly driven by large geographic shifts in the new development market – as resale condo prices actually grew and resale co-op prices dipped only slightly.