NYC rent and sale prices hit peaks at close of 2015

For the first time in history, the median resale price in Manhattan surpassed $1 million, according to website StreetEasy. In its recent Quarterly Market Report, StreetEasy highlights Manhattan hitting $1,002,008, marking 7.1 percent growth from the year prior.

Looking at individual neighborhoods within the borough, the highest growth was in Upper Manhattan, where the median resale price grew 14.6 percent to reach $641,882. The second-highest emerging neighborhood in Q4 was the Upper East Side with 9.1 percent growth, followed by Upper West Side with 8.1 percent growth, Downtown with 6.1 percent growth and Midtown with 4.5 percent growth. Upper Manhattan has outshined the other neighborhoods for 14 straight months.

In Brooklyn, resale price exhibited higher growth than Manhattan with an 8.3 percent increase, reaching $537,193. East Brooklyn lead the borough with 18.1 percent growth to bring the median resale price in Q4 to $464,285. South Brooklyn grew 8.8 percent, followed by North Brooklyn at 8.3 percent, Northwest Brooklyn at 8.2 percent and Prospect Park at 7.1 percent. East Brooklyn has held first place in yearly resale price growth for 17 straight months.

Has inventory decreased median prices in Manhattan and Brooklyn?

Overall, Manhattan resale price developments were assisted by reductions in inventory last quarter. At the close of 2015, the number of homes for sale in Manhattan fell 3.5 percent, to 10,122, which is the lowest ever in StreetEasy history. Although the number of luxury listings in Manhattan has flooded the high-end market and created less demand at the top, the overall market sees strong demand. Buyers in 2015 faced more competitive elements across price points– including less time on the market, down three days from 2014 to 51 days in late 2015. Further, sellers at the end of 2015 received more of asking price than the year before. Homes typically sold for 99.4 percent of initial asking price and the number of homes with price cuts during the quarter declined 3.3 points from 2014.

Inventory growth was slight, with number of homes increasing just 1.5 percent across the Brooklyn market to 4,746 listings. But the sales market in Brooklyn was slightly less competitive than last year, when considering typical time on the market, asking-price percentages, sale-to-list ratio and number of price cuts. The average number of days on the market declined by one day to reach 48 days, so pace remained stagnant year-over-year; and sellers received the same percentage of asking price they did in 2014. Furthermore, homes sold for 98.3 percent of asking price and discounts were easier to find than in 2014 for buyers, as price cuts grew 2 points to reach 25.7 percent of all homes on the market.

Rental market updates across boroughs

The rental market in Manhattan upheld its ascending growth, with a 4.7 percent increase in price from 2014. The median rent at the close of 2015 was $3,112, with the biggest hike seen in Upper Manhattan. Total inventory for rental units fell 2.3 percent to reach 20,859 units– the lowest level since early 2014 and the first annual decline in the last five years.

[graphiq id=”8SDLZ8QbfSJ” title=”Cost of Monthly Rent broken down in New York City, NY” width=”600″ height=”478″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/8SDLZ8QbfSJ” link=”http://places.findthehome.com/l/71121/New-York-City-NY” link_text=”Cost of Monthly Rent broken down in New York City, NY | FindTheHome”]

Brooklyn rent prices grew at about half the rate of the Manhattan market. Brooklyn’s median rent price hit $2,630, with the highest growth in Prospect Park, where median rent grew 4.7 percent. Unlike in Manhattan, rental inventory in Brooklyn grew this past quarter to 12,403, with the largest number of listings in East Brooklyn. The total growth in Brooklyn rent was 4.2 percent. East Brooklyn grew 27.3 percent in inventory and South Brooklyn saw 22.2 percent inventory growth. All other neighborhoods contained decreases in inventory, offsetting the Brooklyn market median.

Manhattan and Brooklyn forecasts for 2016, according to StreetEasy

StreetEasy Price Forecast says resale prices in Manhattan are projected to grow just 0.8 percent by December 2016 to reach a median resale price of $1,010,243, which is a steep backslide compared to the 7.1 percent growth seen in 2015.

Similar to the outlook for Manhattan, the Brooklyn for-sale market is expected to cool in 2016, but not as significantly. The median resale price in Brooklyn for 2016 is projected to grow by 4.2 percent to hit a median of $560,005, which is about half the growth seen in 2015.

Email Jennifer Riner