{September, 2023} No Fall Market in 2023
Photo by Johannes Plenio
September came and went. This was the month that went by the fastest in this whole year for me. We adjusted back to school and work life from a summer of adventure. I also started a full-fledged middle school search for Kelly, our older daughter who is in 5th grade now. If any of you are interested in a support group for NYC school search, message me! Work feels like a walk in the park compared to that.
This September was soooo slow for the NYC real estate market. A mere 568 listings went into contract in Manhattan. In comparison, last September we had 809 listings that signed a contract and the year before that almost 1700! Even in September 2020, before the vaccines were available, we had around 680 listings going into contract. The high rates continued to dampen the activity level in NYC. Our total inventory jumped to 9 months from August’s 7.6 months as a result. Most of our buyers who signed contracts recently, paid all cash. Many of them were international. Most local buyers were still on hold as mortgage rates stayed above 7%. The vast majority of the NYC sellers were still very sticky with their prices. Our pipeline of buyers who are watching the market is at its biggest ever, but unless rates drop soon, the buyers will stick to the sidelines.
Good Read:
After NYC once again collapsed after a big rain storm last Friday, what questions should you ask related to climate change before you buy?
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.