There were 2,546 sales in the quarter, down from 3,560 last year, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The decline was the largest since the third quarter of 2020, during the depths of the pandemic.
Prices also declined for the first time since early 2020, with the median price down 5.5%.
The declines in both sales and prices mark the end of the roaring comeback in Manhattan real estate after the worst days of the pandemic and raise fears of continuing weakness into the new year. Rising interest rates, a weaker economy and a falling stock market, which has an outsized impact on Manhattan real estate, are all likely to weigh on the market this year.
Analysts say their big worry is a prolonged standoff between buyers and sellers — with sellers unwilling to list amidst falling prices and buyers pausing their searches until prices fall further.
Even as prices and sales drop, however, inventory remains tight as sellers hold off on listings. There were 6,523 apartments on the market at the end of the fourth quarter, according to the report, up only 5% from last year but still well below the historical average of around 8,000.
Without a large increase in inventory, analysts say prices are unlikely to fall enough to lure back many buyers waiting for discounts. The average discount from initial list price to sales price was 6.5%, up from 4.1% in the third quarter, according to Serhant.
(source:CNBC)
