Buyers Pay Record-High Prices for Homes in Brooklyn and Manhattan

NEW YORK, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Key facts:

• Despite prices reaching new highs, price growth in both boroughs has slowed. The median Manhattan sales price, as tracked by the Manhattan Price Index, grew by 5.8 percent from last year to a record high of $936,683, compared to the 7.7 percent growth rate in 2014.
• The Brooklyn Price Index increased 4.1 percent year-over-year to an all-time high of $526,474, less than half the 2014 growth rate of 10.1 percent.
• Brooklyn buyers were slightly quicker than Manhattan buyers to close on sales in the second quarter. The median time on market of homes that went into contract in Brooklyn was 41 days – three days shorter than Manhattan homes.
• Buyers had very little bargaining power in the second quarter with Manhattan homes selling for just 1.1 percent less than the initial asking price. Brooklyn homes sold for full – or above – asking prices.

Manhattan and Brooklyn sales prices increased to another record high in the second quarter. Despite high prices, buyers were willing to pay full asking prices for homes in both boroughs during the competitive spring real estate season, according to the Q2 2015 StreetEasy® Market Reports for Manhattan and Brooklyn[i].

Manhattan sales prices of all home types, as tracked by the Manhattan Price Index[ii], grew by 5.8 percent from last year to a record $936,683. The Brooklyn Price Index[iii], which is introduced for the first time this quarter, also reached an all-time high, increasing 4.1 percent from last year to $526,474. Despite reaching new highs, price growth in both boroughs has slowed. Last year, Manhattan and Brooklyn prices grew by 7.7 and 10.1 percent, respectively. Brand-new and unique to StreetEasy Market Reports, the Manhattan Price Index and Brooklyn Price Index are the only indices that measure median resale prices of all home types (condos, co-ops and townhomes) within each borough.

Sellers were still able to find willing buyers who were undeterred by high prices. Brooklyn-wide, homes typically sold for 100 percent of the initial asking price in the second quarter[iv]. Homes in the Prospect Park and East Brooklyn submarkets sold for 1.8 and 1.2 percent above asking prices, respectively. In Manhattan, homes sold for just 1.1 percent below the initial asking price in the second quarter, a 0.5 percent increase from this time last year.

"Buyers in Brooklyn and Manhattan faced an uphill climb this spring," said StreetEasy data scientist Alan Lightfeldt. "Sellers are still in the driver's seat with buyers eager to lock in low mortgage rates and willing to enter into bidding wars to buy a home. The incredibly high demand, despite the many factors working against buyers, speaks to the resiliency of the market, something often said about Manhattan, but certainly also true for Brooklyn."

Buyers not only had to match initial asking prices, but they had to act quickly during the second quarter. Homes in Manhattan spent a median of 44 days on the market before going into contract, one day longer than last year's record low. Homes in Brooklyn spent even less time on the market, with a median of 41 days, six days longer than this time last year.

Price growth has slowed in Manhattan over each of the past 17 months, and according to the StreetEasy Manhattan Price Forecast, prices are expected to grow by 0.4 percent over the next month. In Brooklyn, prices will grow by 0.2 percent over the next month, according to the StreetEasy Brooklyn Price Forecast[v].  

Full reports and additional analysis for Manhattan and Brooklyn, including rental data and several other metrics new to the StreetEasy Reports, 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 Manhattan's Flatiron neighborhood. StreetEasy is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z).

StreetEasy is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

[i] The StreetEasy Market Report is a quarterly overview of the Manhattan and Brooklyn sales and rental markets. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan and Brooklyn, with most metrics dating back to 1995 in Manhattan and 2004 in Brooklyn. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit http://streeteasy.com/blog/market-reports/. StreetEasy also tracks data for the five boroughs within New York City.

[ii] The Manhattan Price Index (MPI) and Brooklyn Price Index (BPI) are 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 2004 in Brooklyn. 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 arms-length sales of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance.

[iii] The Manhattan Price Index (MPI) and Brooklyn Price Index (BPI) are 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 2004 in Brooklyn. 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 arms-length sales of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance.

[iv] The sale-to-list price ratio is the final recorded sale price divided by the initial asking price on StreetEasy, expressed as a percentage. A ratio above 100 percent indicates that the home sold for above initial asking price, whereas a ratio below 100 percent indicates that the home sold for less than the initial asking price.

[v] The Manhattan Price Forecast and the Brooklyn Price Forecast predict the change in resale prices one month out from the current reported period. Each forecast incorporates the Price Index for each borough, StreetEasy's comprehensive database of listing prices and days on market - two leading indicators to future resale prices to accurately forecast what next month's resale prices will be before the release of publicly recorded sales data.

SOURCE StreetEasy

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