A total of 717 homes came on the market in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in April, an 85% decline from the 5,095 listings forApril, 2019, according to the StreetEasy Market Reports, out Wednesday. April is typically the most popular month for sellers to list their homes on the New York City market.
As the pandemic hit New York City, many would-be home sellers avoided the market altogether. The drop of more than 4,300 homes from 2019’s new inventory level also translated to a sharp drop in the share of price cuts being offered by sellers. In Manhattan, only 2.1% of homes for sale had a price cut in April – a drop of 12.2 percentage points from last year, and a record low for the borough.
However, the 2.1% of sellers that were making price cuts in April were determined to make a sale. The median price cut in Manhattan was a record high 5.9% off the asking price, or a median of $100,241. The highest median price cut previously observed in Manhattan was 5.4%, in January 2016.
In April, 132% more listings included a walkthrough video or a 3D Home tour compared to March, showing that sellers are working to adapt to the stay-at-home order and public health protocols.
“Most New Yorkers who don’t absolutely need to buy or sell right now simply aren’t doing so,” said StreetEasy Economist Nancy Wu. “The massive drop in inventory shows us that the majority of would-be sellers can wait, and are opting to do so to avoid any pressure to make price cuts.”
April 2020 Key Findings — Manhattan
Manhattan prices continued to drop in April, a trend that has been occurring for the past three years. The StreetEasy Manhattan Price Index[ii] fell 2.7%, to $1,075,366. In Upper Manhattan, the borough’s least-expensive submarket, prices rose 5.0% to $656,383 — the only increase seen across the borough. The StreetEasy Manhattan Rent Index, which is based on prices of repeat rental units in NYC, increased to $3,308, up 2.5% from last year, which was the slowest pace of growth seen in 2020 thus far. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the rentals market was coping with major disruptions in April.
April 2020 Key Findings — Brooklyn
Prices in Brooklyn fell at the fastest pace since August 2019, with the StreetEasy Brooklyn Price Index down 1.8% to $689,989. New sales inventory in the borough hit the lowest level in seven years, with 247 homes coming onto the market. Rents continued to climb, as they did before the coronavirus pandemic. In April, the StreetEasy Brooklyn Rent Index hit a record high $2,755 — up 4.8% from last year.
April 2020 Key Findings — Queens
Borough-wide, prices in Queens stayed flat at $510,345. Prices rose 3.0% to $791,203 in Northwest Queens, the borough’s most expensive submarket, but at the slowest pace of 2020 thus far. New inventory fell 82.3% in the borough — with just 156 homes listed on the market in April — following the citywide trend. The StreetEasy Queens Rent Index increased to $2,209, up 3.2% from last year.
