Tight Inventory Pushes Up New York City Home Prices

NEW YORK, July 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Home sale prices across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens continued to rise this home shopping season, up 1.2 percent, 5.6 percent and 8.3 percent respectively since this time last year, according to the Q2 2017 StreetEasy® Market Reportsⁱ.

Of the boroughs analyzed, Queens experienced the greatest price appreciation, with median home prices up more than 5 percent in nearly every submarket. Despite signs of a competitive market across all three boroughs, the share of homes with a price cut rose — particularly among homes within the luxury sector.

"Looking at this year's home shopping season, we're seeing a competitive landscape with rising home prices and falling inventory levels across the City," said StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. "Inventory is tightest and price growth strongest among the markets geared toward those on a budget, perhaps looking for their first home. But this quarter's data shows signs that buyers may be regaining some leverage: The share of homes that offered a price cut were up since last year, signaling that there are limits to how fast prices can rise and that more sellers may be willing to negotiate."

Q2 2017 Key Findings - Manhattan

• Manhattan's resale home prices rose from 2016 levels, except within the luxury tier. Manhattan's median resale price increased by 1.2 percent year-over-year to $1,173,119ⁱⁱ. Home prices at the bottom end of the market rose the most, at 4.7 percent, while luxury prices dropped by 3.5 percent since Q2 of last year.
• Upper Manhattan prices cooled. Strong price appreciation in Upper Manhattan finally slowed in Q2 2017, maintaining its stronghold as the most affordable submarket in the borough with a median home resale price less than half of the borough median, at $496,881.
• Prices increased the most in the Upper West Side. Median resale prices for homes in the Upper West Side increased 2.6 percent since Q2 of last year.
• Inventory in Manhattan remained tight. The amount of homes listed for sale in Manhattan dropped by nearly a quarter (21.9 percent) since this time last year.
• Rent prices in the bottom tier continued to grow. The median rent price in Manhattan rose by just .3 percent since Q2 of last year to $2,971ⁱⁱⁱ, and rose by 1.4 percent among the most affordable segment of the market.

Q2 2017 Key Findings - Brooklyn

• Brooklyn's median resale price rose 5.6 percent over the past year. The median resale price was $757,507 in Q2 2017, with South Brooklyn neighborhoods reporting the greatest annual price growth, up 9.7 percent since Q2 2016.
• Prospect Park prices showed signs of relief. The median resale price of this popular submarket fell to $937,339, down 23.5 percent from peak levels in April.
• Sales inventory in Brooklyn dipped, mirroring the trend in Manhattan. Brooklyn home shoppers had 16.3 percent fewer homes to choose from than at the same period last year.
• The share of homes with price cuts rose. An increasing share of homes had their prices cut in Brooklyn, with cuts made on 35 percent of the homes for sale in Q2 2017, compared to 31 percent in Q2 of last year.
• Despite recent cooling, Brooklyn rents increased slightly. Brooklyn's median rent price of $2,442 was 1.3 percent higher than its Q2 2016 levels and just one dollar below its all-time peak of $2,443 in Q3 2016.

Q2 2017 Key Findings - Queens [NEWLY ADDED THIS QUARTER]

• Prices rose the most in Queens among all three boroughs. The median resale price increased 8.3 percent year-over-year to $500,351. Median resale prices went up across the borough, increasing more than 5 percent in every Queens submarket except the Rockaways.
• Sale-to-list price ratio remained high. Queens saw a sale-to-list price ratio of 98 percent in Q2 2017, meaning Queens sellers typically received just 2 percent less than their initial asking price.
• Growth in sales inventory remained muted. For-sale home inventory in Queens was just above 3,000; little changed from the levels of the past two years.
• The share of discounted rentals fell, hitting South Queens and the Rockaways the hardest. Typical of the busy rental season, the share of rental listings offering a discount fell nearly 3 percent since last quarter. South Queens and the Rockaways were among the areas with the fewest discounts; only 13 percent of listings and 14 percent of listings in those submarkets were discounted while on StreetEasy, respectively, compared to 26 percent of listings across the borough.
• Rent prices in Queens hit an all-time high. Median rent prices were up 1.3 percent year-over-year, reaching an all-time high of $1,989 per month.

The complete StreetEasy Market Reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens with additional neighborhood data and graphics can be viewed at streeteasy.com/blog/market-reports.

About StreetEasy
StreetEasy is New York City's leading local real estate marketplace on mobile and the web, providing accurate and comprehensive for-sale and for-rent listings from hundreds of real estate brokerages throughout New York City and the major NYC metropolitan area. StreetEasy adds layers of proprietary data and useful search tools to help home shoppers and real estate professionals navigate the complex real estate markets within the five boroughs of New York City, as well as Northern New Jersey and the Hamptons.

Launched in 2006, StreetEasy is based in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. StreetEasy is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).

StreetEasy is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

ⁱ The StreetEasy Market Reports are a monthly overview of the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens sales and rental markets. Every three months, a quarterly analysis is published. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens with more than a decade of history for most metrics. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit http://streeteasy.com/blog/market-reports/. StreetEasy tracks data for all five boroughs within New York City, but currently only produces reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
ⁱⁱ Median resale price is measured by the StreetEasy Price Indices, monthly indices that track changes in resale prices of condo, co-op, and townhouse units. Each index uses a repeat-sales method of comparing the sales prices of the same properties since January 1995 in Manhattan and January 2007 in Brooklyn and Queens. Given this methodology, each index accurately captures the change in home prices by controlling for the varying composition of homes sold in a given month. Data on sale of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/
ⁱⁱⁱ Similar to the StreetEasy Price Indices, median rents are measured by the StreetEasy Rent Indices. By including only valid and verified listings from StreetEasy and employing a repeat rentals approach, the indices emphasize the changes in rent on individual properties and not between different sets of properties. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/

SOURCE StreetEasy

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