Brick Underground has declared Brooklyn a "seller's market," leaving Manhattan stuck in the grey area where neither party has the upper hand. In reality, both in BK and city-wide, leverage depends on the specific product and location.
It'll be interesting to see how this headline affects BK buyers' sense of urgency as, especially recently, the press has an outsize effect on real estate consumer activity. Behavioral economics, anyone?
Remember that a "buyer's market" in NYC just means you have a chance to purchase the home of your choice, at a reasonable pace/price, using financing. Want to know what an NYC seller's market looks like? Imagine what most first time buyers around the country went through in 2020, except at a 5-10x higher price point.
But the big takeaway right now? We still don't know whether demand or supply will increase at a faster rate as we get into the "spring market," since the past 12 months have not had the typical annual cadence. I foresee a huge year, and would bet that by Q3 sellers have the definitive upper hand again, but for now (with the NYC mayoral primary in June as a huge unknown) it's TBD. I'll be back in two weeks with updates.
The Rental Corner
Since I know that my audience is split between renters and buyers/sellers (with a few landlords thrown in), here's a breakdown of current rental trends.
1. After a record number of leases signed were signed in December, inventory has decreased and months free have dropped to roughly 2 per lease term.
2. If a building is still offering 4-5 months free, the gross prices are way above market (this is typical in new builds in places like Midtown). Many landlords don't have the ability to reduce them much further due to bank loans, so you can get a great 1-2 year deal but be mindful you will need to qualify based on the gross price.
3. Landlords are feeling more confident and pushing back on longer leases or additional credits, as people return to the city with spring/reopening/vaccine optimism.
4. Don't be the person who reaches out on something that was just listed demanding rent discounts and additional concessions. It makes you look like a bargain vulture with no idea what you're doing.
5. Related, read the copy on a listing before you reach out. The number of times I've had someone email "CAN I PUT IN A FLEX WALL" on a listing where the first line is "no flex walls allowed"....
xo
Anna