Price cuts spur deals as glut of luxury homes lingers

January rents were down 15.5% in Manhattan and 8.6% in Brooklyn from last year

(iStock/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)
(iStock/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)

New York’s real estate market had a rough year in 2020 and price cuts portend a tumultuous 2021.

January rents were down 15.5 percent in Manhattan and off 8.6 percent in Brooklyn from the same month last year, according to StreetEasy, Bloomberg News reported. Home prices also were lower by 6.2 percent in Manhattan and 5.4 percent in Brooklyn.

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The price cuts appear to have triggered more deals. Pending sales, or sales under contract, increased 31 percent in Manhattan from January 2020. In Brooklyn, pending sales increased 17 percent during the same period.

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More sellers will likely be offering price cuts in light of a massive glut of apartments and homes sitting on the market, according to StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu.

This is especially true in the luxury sector. While January saw a 57 percent increase in high-end contracts from the previous year, Wu said inventory for luxury homes is still near all-time highs.

[Bloomberg News] — Keith Larsen