Welcome to The Data Drop by TRD Data, a weekly look at the numbers shaping real estate.
This week, we are looking at how persistently high financing costs are shaping development in the Big Apple.
An analysis of city permit data over the past year revealed that the city’s builders are shifting gears, turning to redevelopment projects over ground-up construction. Specifically, office-to-residential conversions are dominating construction work in Manhattan, while expansions of one- and two-family homes are becoming the norm in Brooklyn.
Explore our map of where the city’s builders are keeping the construction pipeline flowing, even when interest rates and construction costs continue to climb.
Here’s what else TRD Data covered this week:
💰Refinancings outpaced new purchase loans for second straight quarter since 2022
In the first quarter, the number of refinancing originations outpaced new purchase loans for the second quarter in a row, a trend that had not occurred since early 2022, when mortgage rates hovered around 3.5 percent but were beginning to climb again.
At the same time, loans for new home purchases dropped by 12 percent year over year to hit a 12-year quarterly low.
What this signals: The winter was a tough one for home buying, and sales were down in the first quarter year over year. The market is also incredibly rate sensitive at the moment, with even moderate drops in interest rates triggering surges in refinancings.
⏪ Rewind
The New York Attorney General is investigating Compass’ market share in New York in light of its acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate, the parent company of Corcoran, Sotheby’s International and Coldwell Banker, earlier this year for $1.6 billion.
The megadeal didn’t seem to draw scrutiny from the Feds, but the NY AG is looking into antitrust concerns in the Big Apple, The Real Deal reported.
Last fall, TRD Data looked at just how big the purchase made Compass, which was already the largest brokerage in the country before the acquisition. Here’s a quick refresh of how Compass stacked up to its competitors in 2025.
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🌟 Dallas-Fort Worth’s top brokers see deal volume rise as prices dip
The top 20 residential brokers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area raked in nearly $7.7 billion worth of deals from April 2025 to April 2026, though they closed 6 percent more sales compared to the same time period the year before.
Meanwhile, the average of these top 20 players also slid to about $485,500 from $516,300 the year prior.
What this means: The DFW Megaplex housing market continues to normalize after the pandemic, which saw a surge in buying and home prices. Still, some high-end buyers are willing to test the market with higher prices, one broker told us, even if that means they take a discount in the end.
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🌴 Renters keep moving as homeowners stay put across the Sun Belt
In the country’s top Southern markets, homeowners increasingly are staying in their homes, while more renters are flocking to those cities, which offer nicer jobs and nicer climates to live in.
The coastal city of Port St. Lucie, Florida is a prime example. Renter mobility rose 8.6 percentage points between 2019 and 2024, while homeowner mobility fell by 1.3 points, according to a PropertyShark analysis.
Why it matters: It’s always been much easier for renters to move around the country. But high mortgage rates are making it increasingly harder for homeowners to give up their low-interest-rate loans.
🗣️ ICYMI
TRD Data published three new rankings this week:
- NYC’s top developers
- The top residential brokerages in the Dallas-Fort Worth Megaplex
- The top residential agents in the Dallas-Fort Worth Megaplex
💸Big Deals
Commercial: The sale of a former department store in Rego Park, Queens at 96-05 Queens Boulevard for about $230 million finally hit records. The seller was Alexander’s, the real estate investment trust controlled by Steven Roth and the buyer was Northwell Health. It measures 360,000 square feet.
Residential: Extell Development Company had the top recorded home sale in New York, with the sale of a condo at 50 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side for $35.7 million, or roughly $7,300 per square foot. The buyer was The Garden Hue LLC. The unit has four bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms across nearly 4,900 square feet. It hit the market in November, with an asking price of $35 million.
🧠Stat of the Week
A rent freeze for rent-regulated apartments could very well be on the horizon, to the ire of real estate groups.
But how would this affect multifamily loans and bondholders? An analysis by Moody’s found that a five-year rent freeze in the Big Apple wouldn’t have a huge impact. Just 6 percent of multifamily loans could be subject to defaults, a figure that includes buildings without any rent-stabilized units. Excluding market-rate-only buildings, the potential share of defaults rises to 8 percent.
Thoughts? Questions? What would you like to see us cover? Send us a message at mary.diduch@therealdeal.com.