Cash is still king for New York City’s condo market.
Despite a marginal dip in all-cash transactions last year, more than one third of buyers across the Big Apple paid for their condos without mortgages, maintaining a trend that has held firm since 2021.
Last year, 34 percent of condos in the biggest boroughs were paid for in all cash, according to a TRD Data analysis of NYC condo filings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. That was a slight drop from the 35.2 percent of all-cash condo deals handled in 2024.
Borrowing costs had been elevated for several years, potentially incentivizing buyers to pay in all cash. Only in late 2025 did rates begin to fall, making borrowing easier.
Buying for a property in all cash is also preferred by many sellers as it tends to ensure a quicker, more definite closing. With demand ever high, especially in New York, buyers increasingly have been adopting this strategy.
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Each borough, for the most part, followed the trend, rising each year until edging downward slightly last year.
In 2025, the borough with the greatest share of all-cash condo buyers was the Bronx, with about 45 percent. However, in the Bronx, where homes tend to be less expensive than other parts of the city, there was the smallest total number of condo transactions, just 361 overall.
Behind the Bronx was Manhattan, more than 41 percent of last year’s 5,900 condo sales — unsurprisingly the most of the boroughs — were paid for with only cash. That was down from nearly 42 percent the year before.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, recorded the steepest drop in its share of all-cash condo transactions year over year, along with the lowest overall share. In 2025, some 22 percent of its condo deals were all cash, a 3.3-percentage-point decline from about 25 percent the year before.