Last year, New York City was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a stagnant and declining housing market. Now, the city is undergoing a powerful rebound, fueled by New Yorkers trading up and out-of-staters moving in.
In the period from July to September, more than 4,500 Manhattan condo and co-op sales closed, according to a Douglas Elliman market report. That marked the most third-quarter sales in more than three decades, the firm said.
“Many of these people saw what happened after the [housing market] collapse in 2008,” said Donna Olshan, head of Olshan Realty, a New York residential brokerage firm. “They saw that when New York goes on sale, it’s for a short period of time.”
The median sale price for Manhattan condos and co-ops reached a pandemic low of $1 million during the second quarter last year, a nearly 18% drop from the same period in 2019, according to Jonathan Miller, chief executive of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. That price drop reflected both people fleeing the city and owners of higher-end apartments waiting to sell.
But as buying interest increased and more expensive units came up for sale, Manhattan median prices have moved back to where they were before the pandemic. The housing market is also booming in Brooklyn and Queens, where median sales prices hit all-time highs.
