Manhattan’s residential real estate market showed resilience, even as the anticipation of lower mortgage rates temporarily held back some buyers for most of the quarter. When mortgage rates finally began to fall, reaching their lowest level in 1.5 years, buyers responded positively but overall contracts signed remained close to levels seen this time last year.

The luxury market remained extremely active. Contracts signed for homes in the $10 million—$20 million range increased by 15 % year-over-year, while contracts for homes over $20 million saw an even larger uptick, rising 17%.

Another notable trend was the growing preference for condos over co-ops. Condo contracts jumped 25 % year-over- year, while co-op transactions fell 21%. This shift reflected buyers' increasing demand for amenities and the fewer restrictions typically associated with co-op board approvals.

Brooklyn’s residential real estate market is undergoing a significant transformation. Contrary to last year’s activity, there were 2,555 sales this quarter, a 4% year-over-year increase and 2%quarter-over-quarter. Notably, condos sold for $1 million and above had an increase in transactions while those under $500,000 fell by 15% year-over-year.

Regarding contract activity, we saw co-ops drive the decline, falling a whopping 47.0% against last year while condos and houses had double-digit increases. Due to reduced availability, co-ops were signed at significantly higher prices than last year, while condos and houses had more modest price improvements.  Notably, transactions for houses priced $3M and above were up a massive 73.7% year-over-year.

Limited inventory remains a point of contention in both markets, and we witnessed a slowdown ahead of a presidential election and the widespread expectation that mortgage rates would fall further.

Written by. Marianna Dimentman | (E) mariannad@compass.com , (M) 917.853.3262