New York City Real Estate Struggles

Some news from across the Hudson: New York City’s first quarter sales declined again, according to Douglas Elliman. This represents the sixth consecutive quarter of declines for the Big Apple, the longest downward trend in the last 30 years.

Obviously, as the economy has come back to life, new construction has boomed in New York City, causing a surge in the construction of high-end apartments. But there seems to be a convergence of factors that are causing the number of sales and median prices to fall concomitantly. One reason can be attributed to the new limits on deductibility of state real estate taxes. A second reason for the drop-off being an unusual scarcity of foreign buyers.

At this point, even New York’s entry-level properties appear to be feeling the pinch in buyer demand as sellers at all levels cut their prices.

Currently New York City’s entry point threshold stands short of a million dollars.

Basically, a New York City studio goes for an average of $480,000; a one-bedroom goes for $800,000; a two-bedroom costs about $1,550,000; and a four-bedroom plus property goes for an average of $5,350,000.

In the four-bedroom plus category, prices have fallen significantly from 2018, which averaged $6,850,000, a decline of $1.5 million from 2018 to 2019.