Apartment sales in Manhattan dipped by 18% in the third quarter as higher interest rates on mortgages and the struggling stock market take their toll on New York real estate.
It was the first time since 2020 that Manhattan saw a decrease in the number of residential real estate transactions, according to the authors of the report — appraisal firm Miller Samuel and brokerage giant Douglas Elliman.
The average price of an apartment in Manhattan rose 4% year over year to $1.96 million, according to the report.
The median sales price rose to the second highest on record for a third quarter though the sales and average price per square foot both dropped. Nonetheless, they’re the second highest on record for a third quarter, according to the report.
The pace of price increases has slowed while inventory is on the upswing, the report stated.
That’s not to say that the local real estate market is returning to the bad old days of the coronavirus lockdowns, according to the report.
“While Manhattan sales declined year over year from the 2021, the number of sales remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic,” the report states.
In total, there were 3,692 closings in the third quarter — 18.4% lower than third quarter of last year but still 44.4% higher than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 and 23.6% more than the number of closings in Q3 of 2018, according to the report.
The last time that Manhattan apartment sales declined in a quarter was the fourth quarter of 2020, when transactions dropped by 21%.
Average long-term US mortgage rates rose last week for the sixth straight week, marking new highs not seen in 15 years, before a crash in the housing market triggered the Great Recession.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported on Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate climbed to 6.70% from 6.29% last week. By contrast, the rate stood at 3.01% a year ago.
The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those looking to refinance their homes, jumped to 5.96% from 5.44% last week.
Rapidly rising mortgage rates threaten to sideline even more homebuyers after more than doubling in 2022.
Last year, prospective homebuyers were looking at rates well below 3%.
With Post wires
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