New development Luxury Market Hits Record Contract Numbers

In the first quarter of 2026, activity in New York City’s new development market followed the trajectory of the rest of the economy: big spending from wealthy buyers and fits and starts from the rest of the market.

Contracts signed for new condos in Manhattan asking $10 million or more made up 55 percent of the total contract volume for the quarter, according to research from Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing. The 56 contracts signed in the quarter for those homes were also the highest for any period this decade, and up 87 percent from the first quarter of 2025.

The spending spree on the high end came despite latent fears over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tax proposals and the war in Iran rattling the economy with shocks to oil supply.

“Those two factors get squashed when you see so many $10 million plus properties transacting,” said BHSDM president Stephen Kliegerman. “Wealthy people continued to see New York as a place they want to live and invest their money for the future.”

Tight squeeze

Despite the luxury market’s performance, the 667 contracts signed across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens were down 15 percent from the first quarter of last year, according to data from Marketproof.

The low contract numbers continue to be driven by a lack of new condos, said Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group’s Ryan Schleis. “Because inventory is fairly constrained, it’s not enough to have that kind of headline sales number actually be high,” he said. “We just don’t have enough inventory to really fulfill all the demand out there.”

In Manhattan, for example, Schleis said just 83 new units came to market in the first quarter and available new development fell below 3,000 for the first time since 2014.

“It’s all product-driven,” said Marketproof’s Kael Goodman. “Anything that’s good product, sells quickly.”

A question of mortgage rates

New development contracts in Manhattan were roughly flat at 358, according to Marketproof. But the luxury market helped push contract volume past $2 billion for only the fifth time in the last decade, according to data from BHSDM.

Some of those pricey sales came from Legion Investment Group and Nahla Capital’s 1122 Madison Avenue, which put 22 of its 26 units into contract, including a $90 million penthouse that was the most expensive deal of the quarter. A Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group team led by Cathy Franklin launched sales in January.

But an Upper East Side rental-to-condo conversion, where no apartments asked more than $7 million, signed the most contracts in the quarter, according to data from Corcoran Sunshine. Related Companies’ The Strathmore, at 400 East 84th Street, netted 28 contracts last quarter at an average asking price of over $1,700 per square foot. A Corcoran Sunshine team launched sales there in October.

The Strathmore’s performance shows that there is a deep bench of buyers beyond just the ultra-wealthy, Schleis said. But those buyers are far more mortgage rate sensitive, and their increased activity mirrored mortgage rates’ steady decline in the first half of the quarter, only to recede as rates spiked on inflation fears related to the war in Iran, Schleis added.

After dropping below 6 percent for the first time in three years, 30-year fixed mortgage rates rose to 6.46 percent to end the quarter, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “On the demand side, [rates] affect the low end more,” Schleis said.

In Brooklyn, contract signings were down over 22 percent from last year to 239, according to Marketproof data.

The borough saw over 300 units come to market, but about 40 percent of those new condos were in buildings with 10 units or less, said BHSDM’s Jason Thomas. “There’s just not a lot of choices in Brooklyn,” he said.

The top-selling building in the quarter was one of the larger launches in January, a 43-unit development at 127 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg called the Sixth. Developed by Joyland Group and Prospect Developers, the building has already put over half of its units into contract, including a pair of penthouses asking over $6 million.

A Corcoran Group team led by Deborah Rieders launched sales in January.

Contract signings were down 30 percent in Queens to 70, according to Marketproof. Unlike the other boroughs where newer projects led the way, the top-selling building in Queens, Century Development Group’s Vesta, launched sales last April with Serhant’s Kayla Lee and Serhant New Development Marketing. The project netted 12 contracts in the quarter.