It’s still a good time to buy in NYC’s ‘resilient’ market, executive says
Guzman stressed the importance of having local knowledge of the market, because NYC provides some unique challenges that can influence how buyers move forward.
“We do have buyers at times that come back to us with their own comp report because they pulled it from AI,” she said. “And what we say to people is that every building in New York City offers something completely different that sometimes, even through the board approval process, AI can’t help you with that part of it. AI doesn’t know whether or not a board is flexible, or what kind of board is in every building. This is why it’s important to work with an advisor in New York City, because 75% of the buildings are co-ops.”
Timing is the next question for clients, with the holidays ahead. Rates remain elevated, with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reporting an average 30-year contract rate of 7.49% this week. In addition, Freddie Mac’s 30-year rate rose to 7.40% on Thursday, a seventh straight increase.
“The final quarter is always tricky because you have so many holidays,” she said. “There’s this phenomenon that always ends up happening where agents want to see what happens, or they take a property off the market because of the holidays. I do believe that we will see that in the month of October, possibly November, and I think things will start to slow down in December. Will we see the same thing we saw in Q3? I don’t believe so, but we’re optimistic.”
What the report shows
Christie’s Q3 report puts Manhattan’s median price at $1,285,000, with 3,196 closed sales. In Brooklyn, the median price rose 7.5% from a year earlier to $1,150,000 and closed sales fell 20.8% to 2,487.
