{October, 2023} Prices Are Down 11%
The month of October has been breathtakingly beautiful upstate. At our House in the Woods, the brilliant colors of nature dance in the sunlight and the fallen leaves drape our long driveway. The temperature dropped quickly and I could almost smell the wood burning in the fireplace. We look forward to coming up to the mountains after a week or two in the city.
The New York City real estate market continued its slow pace in October as expected with rates breaching 8%. Let’s take stock of the damages high rates had done to our market. Compared to last May, before rates started to rise (does anyone still remember those days?!) prices were now down about 11%. Transaction volumes were down 40%. Inventory was up almost 60%. Compass did an informal survey of average attendance at open houses in NYC held by Compass agents. The average attendance went from 2.6 people in Jan of 2023 to 2.1 in October, a 20% drop. The drop would have been steeper if we had data going back further to before the rate increase. I tuned into our Monday morning sales morning this week and had to jump off shortly after. Agents complaining about the market was worse than my girls complaining about each other! But several buyers I have been working with for a long time, finally got the prices they wanted and a few of them had accepted offers this month.
Good Read:
As the holidays quickly approach, are you planning any trips? Here is a good read of the World’s 50 Best Hotels!
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.