Buyers find there’s more to NYC than Manhattan

Sales of homes in New York City have set new records but the surge in sales volume and prices is revealing a shift away from Manhattan

Buyers find there’s more to NYC than Manhattan
Sales of homes in New York City have set new records but the surge in sales volume and prices is revealing a shift away from Manhattan.

The city’s economic center remains a powerhouse of New York City real estate with 3,268 homes sold in Manhattan in the second quarter of 2017, but a larger share of sales occurred in other boroughs.

The Real Estate Board of New York says that Queens was the top borough in the 3 months ended in June with 3,984 sales, up 17% from a year earlier. Brooklyn saw sales increase 15% to 3,034 while the gain for Manhattan was 6%.

In dollar volume terms, the citywide total was up 19% year-over-year to $13.4 billion. While the bulk of this was in Manhattan ($7.02 billion), the gain was a modest 8% compared to 37% for Brooklyn ($2.97 billion), 28% for Queens ($2.24 billion), and 25% in the Bronx ($426 million). Staten Island saw a 54% increase to $703 million.

“New York City’s home sales volume, average sales prices, and total consideration continued on a strong trajectory through the second quarter of 2017,” said REBNY President John Banks. “The larger share of home sales occurring outside of Manhattan, where prices are lower, has fueled healthy year-over-year average sales price growth.”

The average sales price for a home in New York City increased three percent year-over-year to $1,050,000, while the median sales price of a New York City home increased eight percent to $630,000 signaling that the demand for New York City homes is not only at the upper end of the market.