Brooklyn Home Sales Slowed In Q3 2020 Due to Covid Lockdown

The pandemic paradox is holding strong in Brooklyn: Even though the number of homes sold has dipped dramatically from last year, prices remain higher.

An analysis of third-quarter property sales by The Real Deal found that the one- to three-family market in Brooklyn suffered a massive slowdown, with the overall number of deals dropping by 57 percent year-over-year.

From July to September, 582 sales closed in the borough, totaling $660 million. That’s down from 1,356 totaling $1.4 billion in the same period last year. That was also a 20 percent drop from the second quarter, when 727 homes were sold.

While market activity was slow, pricing remained high: The median Brooklyn sale price in the third quarter was $902,000, up 3.8 percent from a year ago.

The average price per square foot rose even more, up 4.3 percent to $480. Prices rose in part because the supply of available homes fell.

The priciest neighborhoods were very similar to the second quarter, with Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Park Slope and Prospect Heights topping the list.

The drop in sales volume is a reflection of the city’s Covid-19 lockdown, which started in March and put the kibosh on home tours for several months. Although in-person showings resumed in June, the closing process on homes usually takes 30 to 45 days, so while there may well be an uptick in sold homes in the fourth quarter — the number of signed contracts was up in August — any sales gains have yet to be reflected in the data.

The most expensive sale in Brooklyn’s one- to three-family home market during the third quarter was a single-family townhouse at 314 Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights. The three-story, five-bedroom home closed for $5.9 million, or at a 13 percent discount from the initial asking price of $6.795 million, according to StreetEasy.