Stagnant sales prices are ensuring that New Yorkers in the market for a new city home have lots of options, according to new StreetEasy data.
In Queens, however, sales prices continued their rise despite an abundance of inventory. Queens home prices rose 7.1 percent in August compared to last year, according to StreetEasy’s price index. StreetEasy’s index does not include new construction and newly-listed homes.
“In Queens, we see prices still going up, and going up at a pretty rapid rate,” said Grant Long, a senior economist for StreetEasy. “We’re seeing a lot of listings available in general, and as we’ve seen more and more listings come onto the market, we’ve also seen a trend of fewer and fewer sales.
“Queens is experiencing the same lack of affordability for folks who, five to 10 years ago, would have been able to afford a home and [now] they can’t,” he added.
In Manhattan, StreetEasy reported that 8,500 homes were on the market in August 2018 — about 1,200 more than August 2017. Brooklyn’s inventory rose as well.
Coupled with the plateauing prices in the two boroughs, Long said sellers will have to manage expectations.
“I think a lot of people are trying to cash out on gains that we’ve seen over the last decade. But this year is special. We see an enormous amount of homes coming onto the market at a time when the New York City economy is doing relatively well,” Long said. “Sellers who are listing their homes on the market have really high hopes to get a big payday … Those expectations are going to come down to reality.”
One area that seemed to buck the trend is North Brooklyn, where StreetEasy data showed that homes sold in August spent a median of 70 days on the market — 30 days less than August 2017.
“People who are buying in north Brooklyn are taking a longer term perspective on the L train shutdown,” Long said. “We don’t see the same thing in the rental market.”
