● As expected, after Labor Day and the Jewish holidays, a wave of new inventory appeared to the significant tune of 2,088 total new offerings across all product categories and price segments. Surprisingly however, supply dipped in the weeks following, and resale stock has become short again, frustrating buyers who were looking for more options and prompting multiple offers. New listings were down nearly 30% YOY in Q3, forcing buyers to act quickly and helping to drive sales.
With Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah coinciding on this year's calendar, it’s no surprise that the number of new offerings dropped last week, making 8 consecutive weeks of shrinking new inventory. What’s eye-popping is that 27 contracts over $4M were signed last week, with condos outselling co-ops by nearly 4:1. Even more surprising, the previous week from August 23-29 saw 23 luxury contracts inked with 5:1 condos to co-ops and 9 townhouses, the largest number of TH contracts since Donna Olshan began tracking this $4M+ market segment in 2006 and the strongest pre-Labor Day week since 2014. It was the sixth month in a row for record high contract activity.
Stats from the second quarter reaffirm Manhattan real estate’s amazing rebound. Following on the heels of a stellar Q1, surging pent-up demand and low interest rates continued to work in tandem to drive up the number of contracts signed. At this point, we have regained values that were lost to Covid discounts and, by and large, we are back to pre-pandemic pricing. It’s activity however, not pricing, that’s way up.