{May 2019} The Rental Market is Back. Where Is The Sales Market?
Summer is officially here! Before I know it, my older daughter is graduating from kindergarten! I give myself a tissue: keep going mama. May continues the busy pace 2019 has witnessed. Everything is looking up in Manhattan in May: Median Sales Price is higher at $1.3mm/sqft is higher than all but one month in 2018; Days on Market shortens to 64 days. Brooklyn is a bit different. $/sqft in May is one of the lowest for the last 10 months for Brooklyn. After the softening in Manhattan, some parts of Brooklyn are now more expensive than Manhattan. As the market tries to move higher with the lower mortgage rates under its wings, inventory continues to pile on. On balance, the market feels sideways and unable to move in a clear direction. In May, over 1000 listings go into contract (which is good) but almost 2000 listings come on the market. Million Dollar Listing should have an episode about nothing else but deals that fall apart. After having to renew leases lower for a few years, landlords finally regain their control this year! All the luxury rental buildings are finally leased up now. For the sales market, we need the inventory problem to get resolved as well.
The new construction inventory hangs heavily on the market. Here is a good perspective on the new construction market – how it softened, how much weakness is there, etc.
The NYC real estate market was the tale of two cities in October. Total transaction volume ticked higher, even though rates moved higher and sentiment was tense. Most of our new clients were understandably quiet. But quite a few of our repeat clients, the real estate veterans, were busy putting deals together.