The city that never sleeps has a luxury real estate market that has been napping since the 3rd quarter of 2016 and it shows no signs of waking up any time soon, according to CNBC’s report by Robert Frank.
The number of residential real estate sales in the borough fell 4 percent year over year in the quarter, to 2,864, according to Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Miller Samuel. While that dip was substantially better than the steep drop in the third quarter, when sales plunged 19 percent on the year, it showed continued softness in the Manhattan market.
So, is now the time for buyers looking to ‘move on up to the East Side’? What this market will surely show is the difference between a motivated and non-motivated seller, according to this report.
“What we’re seeing is much more negotiability,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel. “There was such a big gap between some of the sellers’ prices and the buyers that now we’re seeing some of those hyper-priced properties coming off the market.”
It’s still early in the new year and some may wonder if this soft market will really continue for the duration of 2017…
Because of the overhang of new units and the continued correction in pricing, Manhattan’s luxury real estate market is not likely to strengthen measurably in the first half of 2017, Miller said.
“I think we’ll see a continuation of the trend,” Miller said.
With such strong suspicion that this trend will continue and according to recent MLS data, preparing sellers for increased days on market and price reductions will be key:
In total, Manhattan apartments sat on the market for 94 days compared with 82 last year. Listing inventory rose 7 percent to 5,393 properties, or about a 5 ½ months’ supply.
