It’s a short story—but a good one. This month, I pull in fellow HRT agent Brandon Moore to talk about the markets in this video, held in an off-market Park Slope townhouse (email us for details!)
They used to say the Bronx was burning. But Brooklyn is on fire!
We just broke price records in one Downtown Brooklyn condo building. And with record low inventory, we don’t see a stop to this runaway Brooklyn real estate market…Unless sellers overprice their properties. Townhouses asking $3 million that are worth $2.5mm aren’t selling. That’s not a shocker. But if sellers are priced accurately, they are going to be very, very happy with the results. Buyers, on the other hand, are going to keep scraping for inventory.
Manhattan is Back, Baby!
Here’s one story for you that is indicative of what we’re seeing. Take this 3/4 bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side:
- It hit the market at $3.85 million a year ago. No takers.
- Lowered to $3.5mm in June 2023
- Lowered again to $2.995mm early October.
- Still crickets.
- Fast forward to early February. Out of the blue, multiple bidders show tons of interest, and the apartment trades over its last asking price.
In the meantime, buyers are still thinking that it is Q2-Q3 of last year, when the market was dead. I told you it was time to buy, didn’t I? Yes I did. Here’s the proof. And at this point, those with what I would now characterize as outdated thinking are getting very disappointed.
Don’t take my word for it. Here are a few more leading indicators to consider, courtesy of my friends at Urban Digs, and my takeaways:
- There were a massive amount of price cuts on properties that had hung over and not sold last year. And given the pace of sales, IT IS WORKING. Those unit are selling.
- New inventory is down slightly from a year ago, but overall, inventory is a little higher month over month. Our firm shows the same thing in its report here. Sellers are waiting a hair to come to market.
- Contracts are getting signed at a pace of 20% more year over year, too. That’s massive. That’s a huge indicator of buyer activity.
Now look at more real time data:
- Again supply is down, but pending sales is up more than THIRTY PERCENT year over year. This is huge. This is a return to health! Days on market for the month, which is a bit more “real time,” shows slightly over 98 days as an average. On the other hand, my firm uses a rolling 6-month average of days on market. In a typical market, this makes sense. But in the middle of this rolling average, the Fed reduced its rate by 100 basis points, throwing this out of whack. So I think the shorter-term looks is more logical here.
BOTTOM LINE: If you’re thinking about selling, it is time to be less busy thinking and more busy listing your home. And if you’re thinking about buying, what are you waiting for??
Be in touch with us to strategize today! -Scott & The HRT