The Market Report: April 2025

Bargain Hunting

Everyone loves a bargain. We fantasize finding a Rembrandt in a thrift shop, the almost unbelievable stories of good fortune. In our New York City real estate market, hunting for a steal is generally futile. Time and again, we’ve seen buyers – typically misguided by media over-generalization of our national real estate market or them having general misperceptions on market strength or weakness – lob low offer after low offer on properties, chasing an opportunity that doesn’t exist. They set an unrealistic pattern for themselves, only to miss out on a good purchase.

A property can be placed on the market for any price. In a healthy market with balanced competition, the market will yield the prevailing value. Under-priced properties get bid up, and over-priced get negotiated down. The flukes are few and far between. But there are buyers who approach the market expecting a fluke.

The educated buyer should look to achieve a fair deal on a purchase of a property that they will enjoy. They should take trades of similar properties in the past few years into account, while also considering estimated current value based on demand for the product and an eye to future appreciation. Looking at just past pricing isn’t predictive of current value. Of course, relative condition and needed work are also key factors to consider.

Certainly, we can’t predict the future on pricing, but we can assess either the precedent of performance for an established neighborhood, like blue chip stocks, or look at a neighborhood that is pointing in the direction of accelerated appreciation. With that we look at a neighborhood’s existing retail infrastructures, civic infrastructures, parks, art and sports access and transportation options. All of these give a comprehensive picture of potential opportunity.

A good real estate advisor will guide a purchaser on the balance of past performance, future opportunity and practical, fair pricing. Our New York City real estate market has proven itself historically to be a market of international interest for its long-term stability and growth. But you don’t get to participate in that if you don’t own property. Chasing property purchases based on what you want to pay versus market value is an impractical and often losing strategy.

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