A Midsummer Shift
We saw trends in our New York City real estate market surface in June that became more prevalent in July with the slowing of buyer activity across many property sectors, with exceptions like the Brownstone Brooklyn townhouse market. Overall, we saw a decrease in property showing appointment requests and inquiries and many buyer clients less active or pausing their searches altogether.
Many buyers are fatigued from the competition they faced through spring and early summer. Wittingly or not, many of them tapped the brakes this month. The July Fourth holiday week is typically one of the slowest weeks of summer, and the pace rolled through the remainder of the month.
In addition to fatigue and hopes of new inventory, we have also seen many buyer and seller clients take advantage of much missed travel for pleasure and for time with relatives and friends that they haven’t seen in nearly a year and a half. Even if not pausing their home search, travel coupled with normal long summer weekends out east or upstate, many buyers have been absent from the city for viewings for a week here and a week there, resulting in a less effective search.
We expect this trend to continue through August, though we don’t expect to see a great shift in market values. We are seeing many sellers reticent to reduce pricing as a market motivator right now and are favoring waiting until early fall for price shifts. Given slower movement on both sides, we anticipate a continued slower pace more than market decline until the fall when we hope to see buyers reinvigorated and sellers with determination to meet their goals of a new move, bringing more movement in oversaturated sectors, pricing adjustments where currently inflated and new inventory in sectors where buyers were fatigued going into summer.
We are concerned for fatigued first time home buyers who may have a short-term loss of stamina and miss great long-term opportunity. Without an increase in inventory, we foresee many throwing in the towel come fall, continue renting for another year and not capitalizing on the value of depressed interest rates.
We saw trends in our New York City real estate market surface in June that became more prevalent in July with the slowing of buyer activity across many property sectors, with exceptions like the Brownstone Brooklyn townhouse market. Overall, we saw a decrease in property showing appointment requests and inquiries and many buyer clients less active or pausing their searches altogether.
Many buyers are fatigued from the competition they faced through spring and early summer. Wittingly or not, many of them tapped the brakes this month. The July Fourth holiday week is typically one of the slowest weeks of summer, and the pace rolled through the remainder of the month.
In addition to fatigue and hopes of new inventory, we have also seen many buyer and seller clients take advantage of much missed travel for pleasure and for time with relatives and friends that they haven’t seen in nearly a year and a half. Even if not pausing their home search, travel coupled with normal long summer weekends out east or upstate, many buyers have been absent from the city for viewings for a week here and a week there, resulting in a less effective search.
We expect this trend to continue through August, though we don’t expect to see a great shift in market values. We are seeing many sellers reticent to reduce pricing as a market motivator right now and are favoring waiting until early fall for price shifts. Given slower movement on both sides, we anticipate a continued slower pace more than market decline until the fall when we hope to see buyers reinvigorated and sellers with determination to meet their goals of a new move, bringing more movement in oversaturated sectors, pricing adjustments where currently inflated and new inventory in sectors where buyers were fatigued going into summer.
We are concerned for fatigued first time home buyers who may have a short-term loss of stamina and miss great long-term opportunity. Without an increase in inventory, we foresee many throwing in the towel come fall, continue renting for another year and not capitalizing on the value of depressed interest rates.
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The Numbers
Manhattan Market Activity
Highlighting our market's past 30 days.
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The Properties
Our month's featured listings on the market.
Gramercy / Manhattan
Coop
1 Bed / 1 Bath
$875,000
Upper East Side / Manhattan
Coop
3 Beds / 3 Baths
$2,450,000
85-101 North Third Street, 306
Williamsburg / Brooklyn
Comdo
2 Beds / 2 Baths
$2,500,000
Midtown East / Manhattan
Coop
Studio / 1 Bath
$345,000
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The Pick
From the cool and eccentric to reserved and irreverent -
Our month’s pick of what's happening in New York City.
If you haven't already, you should:
MoMA: Automania Sculpture garden exhibit through October 11. Gallery exhibit through January 2
Automania brings together cars and parts, architectural models, films, photographs, posters, paintings, and sculptures to explore the impact of the car on our world and our lives.
