NYC’s resi market had a record quarter: REBNY

New York City’s residential market had the biggest quarter since at least 2006, according to a new Real Estate Board of New York report, with $13.6 billion worth of condominiums, co-ops and one-to-three family homes trading hands between July and September.

Deal volume citywide was 15 percent larger than in the third quarter of 2015. The average condo sales price in Manhattan reached a new record high of $2.952 million, while home prices in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx also rose. The figure is a record high since 2006, when REBNY began tracking residential sales.

There’s a caveat: REBNY’s report only counts closed and recorded sales.

New development sales often close years after a contract was signed. This means that in Manhattan, where new development makes up a big share of the overall market, last quarter’s high sales volume may partially reflect a strong luxury condo new development market in years past.

Still, Michael Slattery, REBNY’s senior vice president of research, said new development doesn’t make up the bulk of Manhattan sales, and that the market would be on the rise even if you excluded new development.

“The trend is a broader trend than just driven by high-end condos,” Slattery said.

Brian Klimas, REBNY’s chief research economist, added that the market “seems to be a lot stronger than we thought.”

Residential deals signed in the third quarter totaled $7.31 billion in Manhattan (up 16 percent year-over-year), $2.9 billion in Brooklyn (up 11 percent), $2.25 billion in Queens (up 12 percent), $767.3 million in Staten Island (up 41 percent) and $413.9 million in the Bronx (up 16 percent).

The average sales price rose by 8 percent to $891,000 in Brooklyn, by 6 percent to $523,000 in Queens and by 3 percent to $400,000 in the Bronx.