More than 20K new apartments are coming to New York this year

New York will see more than 20,000 new apartments open their doors in 2019, and only a small amount are likely to find buyers or renters by the end of the year.

Most of the new units will be in luxury towers, and it will take more than six years to sell all of the new development in Manhattan alone, according to the New York Times. The pace of sales has already slowed down leading up to the new year, with homes asking $4 million or more taking 447 days on average to go into contract in 2018, compared to 172 days in 2013.

The roughly 20,000 units becoming available this year is about the same number as last year and down from a peak of 25,000 in 2017. However, it is still higher than 2012 to 2015 when an average of 14,000 units were finished each year and demand was outpacing supply.

The most openings will be in Brooklyn, which should see 13,272 new apartments across 421 buildings. Manhattan is next with 6,342 units in 79 buildings, followed by Queens with 6,302 units in 154 buildings, the Bronx with 2,471 units and Staten Island with 126 units.

Sales inventory is already high in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. As of November, it was up 18 percent in Manhattan year over year, 21 percent in Brooklyn and 35 percent in Queens.

Some of the larger projects on their way this year include One Manhattan Square in Two Bridges, 15 Hudson Yards  on the Far West Side, 420 Kent in Williamsburg and 5Pointz in Long Island City. [NYT] – Eddie Small