Multifamily market had its worst year since 2011

It was a horrible year for New York’s multifamily market.

The total dollar value of deals in 2019 dropped 40 percent from the year before to $6.91 billion, the market’s lowest total since 2011, according to Bloomberg, citing data from Ariel Property Advisors. There were 290 deals overall, a decline of 36 percent and the first year since 2010 with fewer than 300 deals.

The state’s new rent law was likely the main culprit, as the value and profit potential of properties with rent-regulated units were thrown into doubt by a slew of new restrictions.

More than 60 percent of the units that traded in Manhattan below East 96th and West 110th streets last year were market rate, and buyers paid $758,217 per unit on average, an increase of 14 percent from 2018.

Deals for rent-regulated buildings largely went for a fraction of that and for less than they did a year earlier. Prices for rent-regulated units in Queens dropped 7.7 percent to $276,261 per unit, and in the Bronx, they fell 7.1 percent, from $185,006 in 2018 to $171,855 last year. [Bloomberg] — Eddie Small