NYC multifamily market continued slow down in April, but pricing barely budged

With the exception of Queens, New York’s multifamily market decreased across nearly all metrics in April compared to the previous year. Pricing remained stable or increased in most sub-markets except Brooklyn, where the 12-month average decreased on both per-unit and per-square-foot measures, falling 8.7 percent to $300,642 per unit and 6.7 percent to $359 per square foot.

Citywide, there were 29 multifamily transactions in April totaling $477.12 million, with dollar volume falling by more than half compared with April 2016. Relative to the previous month, transaction volume remained flat, building volume was up 31 percent and dollar volume decreased 4 percent, according to Ariel Property Advisors [TRDataCustom].

Manhattan and Brooklyn saw the steepest declines in dollar volume year-over-year, with Manhattan falling 80 percent from $463 million to $93 million for the month. Brooklyn, with just three transactions, saw its dollar volume fall by 87 percent to $25 million.

The Manhattan market improved relative to the previous month. In one sale, Abraham Sanieoff paid $12.75 million for an 11-unit walk-up at 601 Hudson Street in Greenwich Village, at an average $1.2 million per unit. That’s significantly above the neighborhood’s 12-month average of $700,202 per unit.

In Brooklyn, virtually all the metrics were down compared to the previous month. What appears to be the largest transaction was Morris Weinberg’s purchase of a 37-unit building at 66 Graham Avenue in Williamsburg for $11.4 million, paying $308,180 per unit.

The Bronx saw two multifamily portfolios trade in April, doubling the building volume from the previous month to 23 while the dollar volume, at $115 million, declined 31 percent. Isaac Kassirer’s Emerald Equity Group was involved in both transactions. The firm bought an 11-building, 291-unit portfolio in Fordham from Prana Investments for $49 million, and also sold a a six-building, 209-unit portfolio to Pistilli Realty for $38.5 million.

Northern Manhattan saw four transactions totaling $83 million, down from $99 million this time a year ago, but up 54 percent compared to the previous month. Average price per square foot jumped from $144 to $189, a 31 percent increase, and price per-unit increased 9 percent to $166,710.

Queens, with a total dollar volume of $130 million, was the exception on all counts, increasing on all month-over-month and year-over-year metrics, primarily due to the $76 million deal between Kushner Companies and Karan Singh. In the city’s largest deal of the month, Kushner sold a four-building, 154-unit portfolio in Astoria to the Queens investor at $617 per square foot.

(To view completed commercial sales transactions involving multifamily buildings, click here)