The multifamily market hit a summer slump

The dollar volume of deals in July fell 37% below the monthly average

From left: 838 West End Avenue, 495 East 188th Street in the Bronx, and Isaac Kassirer (Credit: Luxury Rentals Manhattan, Apartments, and Emerald Equity Group)
From left: 838 West End Avenue, 495 East 188th Street in the Bronx, and Isaac Kassirer (Credit: Luxury Rentals Manhattan, Apartments, and Emerald Equity Group)

New York’s multifamily market hit a summer slump.

The city saw 38 transactions across 70 buildings worth a total of $530.81 million in July, according to a report from Ariel Property Advisors. Compared to the monthly average for the first half of the year, this was a 37 percent drop in dollar volume and an 8 percent drop in transaction volume. Building volume ticked up by 3 percent.

Compared to June, dollar volume dropped by 23 percent, transaction volume dropped by 10 percent, and building volume went up by 17 percent. New York’s multifamily market had already slowed down during the second quarter of the year compared to the first quarter, seeing a 3 percent drop in dollar volume, a 22 percent drop in transaction volume and a 24 percent drop in building volume.

The only submarket that saw dollar volume increase in July was the Bronx, while the largest market share was in Brooklyn.

A pair of major deals from Isaac Kassirer, however, buoyed sales volume.

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Manhattan saw just seven transactions across 14 buildings for $176.64 million in July. This was a 24 percent decrease compared to the first half of the year for transaction volume, a 37 percent decrease for dollar volume and a 24 percent increase for building volume. The largest deal was the $72 million sale of 832-838 West End Avenue on the Upper West Side, which Kassirer flipped to Akelius Real Estate Management after signing a contract for it late last year for $64.5 million.

The slowest submarket in July was Northern Manhattan, which had just one deal for one building: the roughly $7.43 million sale of 561-63 West 140th Street.

The Bronx, which got off to a strong start this year, continued to fare well in July with nine transactions across 17 buildings for $91.95 million. This was a 3 percent decline by building volume but a 6 percent increase by transaction volume and an 8 percent increase by dollar volume. Kassirer had the largest deal in this borough as well thanks to his $25.75 million sale of a multifamily portfolio to a private family completing a 1031 exchange.

Brooklyn also had a solid month with 15 sales across 30 properties for $220.25 million. Dollar volume dropped by 32 percent, but transaction volume increased by 15 percent, and building volume increased by 33 percent. The largest deal was the $50 million sale of 3528 Mermaid Avenue, a 264-unit mixed-use property on Coney Island.

Queens had six deals across eight buildings for $34.55 million in July. These were 20 and 14 percent increases in transaction and building volume, respectively, and a 55 percent decrease in dollar volume. The largest deal was the $11 million sale of 23-05 29th Street in Astoria, a 23-unit building that developer Ilias Thedoropoulos sold to investor Rey Nieto.