StreetEasy Releases One-Year Anniversary Sandy Report On NYC Real Estate Market Revealing Tale Of Two Recoveries

MANHATTAN MARKET VIRTUALLY UNAFFECTED WHILE OUTER BOROUGHS RECOVER SLOWLY

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Oct 29, 2013, 05:00 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- StreetEasy.com releases their one-year anniversary report on the New York City real estate market after Super Storm Sandy, entitled, "A Tale of Two Recoveries." The report reveals that the real estate market in coastal Manhattan was resilient to the impacts of Sandy and that demand for these properties remained inelastic. Contract and closings activity in Flood Zones 1 and 2 in Manhattan grew at double the pace of other zones in Manhattan while Zones 1 and 2 in other boroughs struggled to recover.

The report is produced by StreetEasy.com, a comprehensive real estate information website in New York City. Using recorded sales data provided by the New York City Department of Finance, and StreetEasy's exclusive sales and rental databases, the report provides a unique look at how quickly the real estate market reacted, how quickly it recovered, and by how much. Findings were contextualized with extensive interviews with residents and brokers.

"Our analysis shows that there are two separate and distinct recoveries to Sandy. The robust and relatively quick recovery among coastal Manhattan neighborhoods stands in stark contrast to the dramatic declines in prices and transaction volume in some of the hardest hit communities in the outer boroughs," says Alan Lightfeldt, Analyst at StreetEasy.com.

Some highlights of the report include the following:

Volume of closings never wavered in Manhattan Zones 1 and 2. In the quarter immediately following Sandy, Q4 2012, closings volume went up 64% since the prior year while there was a 41% increase in closings in other zones.
Outer boroughs had a slower recovery. Immediately following Sandy, closings dropped 22% in Brooklyn and 30% in Queens compared to the prior year. Queens' transaction volume climbed to 38% within six months but it is still down 4% in Brooklyn. In hard-hit neighborhoods like Breezy Point, prices are still 29% down compared to prices just before Sandy.
Demand for properties in Manhattan Zones 1 and 2 have remained exceptionally high. Although contract activity in Manhattan Zones 1 and 2 dropped by 24% one-month following Sandy, activity soon outpaced other zones within six months. By April 2013, contract activity in these zones increased by 28% year over year and by 25% by September 2013.
Manhattan rents remained stable, even after Sandy. While many were looking for a deal post-Sandy, asking rents remained stable. Landlords were offering discounts to current residents but offered no concessions to those renters looking to move in.

About StreetEasy.com:
StreetEasy.com is a comprehensive real estate information website, providing consumers detailed sales and rental information and the tools to manage that information. The site has become the reference site for consumers, real estate professionals and the media and has been widely credited with bringing transparency to the New York metro real estate market. StreetEasy.com is owned and operated by Zillow, Inc.

SOURCE StreetEasy.com