Weekly Manhattan & Brooklyn Market: 1/24

by Elegran | Forbes Global Properties

Week of 1/24/22

Overall supply and pending sales continued to decrease in Manhattan, while both metrics increased in Brooklyn this week. Contract activity in Manhattan is pressured lower by declining supply, whereas contract activity in Brooklyn has more room to rise as supply grows. Both markets are experiencing low inventory and buyers are eager for new inventory.

The pattern of contract activity in Manhattan over the last four weeks is similar to the pattern seen during the same weeks last year [more on this below]. This week, Manhattan’s market pulse decreased, albeit it slightly, for the first time in eleven weeks, to 0.9 and after decreasing last week, Brooklyn’s market pulse increased slightly to 1.30 this week.

Manhattan Supply decreased another 1% this week to 4,712 units for sale reaching a new pandemic-era low for supply. Supply has decreased every week since late October. This week, 293 new listings came to market, one less unit compared to last week and 9% more than the same week last year.

Brooklyn Supply increased 1% to 2,234 units for sale this week, the second week in a row supply has increased after twelve weeks of declining supply. This week 259 new listings came to market, an increase of 46% from last week and 6% more than the same week last year.

Manhattan Pending Sales decreased 1% to 4,258 this week.

Brooklyn Pending Sales increased 2% to 2,897 this week.

Manhattan Pending Sales

Brooklyn Pending Sales

Manhattan Contracts Signed — 179 contracts were signed this week, a 23% decrease from last week and 4% increase from the same time last year. This is the lowest number of contracts signed in a week since the same week last year, and only the fourth week in which fewer than 200 sales were contracted in Manhattan in the last 12-months.

A similar pattern occurred this same period in 2021, in which in the last week of December and the first week of January, fewer than 200 units were contracted. Then there was a pop in contract activity in the second week of January, followed by a decrease in the third week of January. In 2021 contract activity then increased in subsequent weeks throughout the winter and spring. We’ll soon know if a similar pattern occurs this year.

It is important to note that as it takes 2–4 weeks between making an offer and signing a contract, it conceptually makes sense that the third week of January would see a slowdown in contract activity, as that would generally correspond to showings that would have occurred in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, a traditional quiet period for real estate showings.

Brooklyn Contracts Signed — Conversely from the trend in Manhattan, Brooklyn’s contract activity spiked this week as 202 contracts were signed, a 50% increase from last week and a 36% increase from the same week last year.

Manhattan Weekly Contract Analysis — Of the contracts signed this week, and based on the last asking price, the (a) median price per square foot was $1,388, (b) the median price was $1.53M and © the median size was 1,330 square feet. This week set a two-year high for the median price of properties contracted in a week and was on the high-end of the size range.

Brooklyn Weekly Contract Analysis — Of the contracts signed this week, and based on the last asking price, the (a) median price per square foot was $669, (b) the median price was $1.45M and © the median size was 1,828 square feet. This week was an “off-the-charts” week for the median price and median size of properties that were contracted in Brooklyn.

New Development Insights

This week, 78 new development contracts were reported within 48 buildings, a 5% decrease from the 82 new development contracts reported last week. Manhattan’s new development contract activity decreased to 47% of the contract volume within the three boroughs, while Brooklyn’s contract volume increased to 42% and Queen’s contract volume remained unchanged at 10% compared to last week.