Manhattan:
The townhouse market continued to show resilience in the last half of ‘24, with pricing metrics showing strong growth despite ongoing challenges with inventory. The market saw a 15% year-over-year increase in the average sale price, reflecting buyer demand for mint-condition townhouses, while the average $/sqft rose by 11.5%. The cost of constructions has increased 20-30% over the past few years and the time for completion has pushed many to just pay up for a decent property vs. taking on a renovation project.
Although there was a 9% decrease in the number of transactions compared to the same period last year, total dollar volume increased by 4% Y-o-Y, indicating consistent market growth. This uptick in dollar volume, despite less number of deals, shows that purchasers are more and more willing to pay higher prices for available properties, even with the higher than normal interest rate environment that we’ve been in over the past 18 months.
Highlighted Sales:
4 East 79th Street, a 35-foot-wide, 15,200-square-foot C.P.H. Gilbert mansion, sold for $56 million after spending just over 1 year on the market. This sale ranked as the highest-priced sale for Q3, as well as marking the 2nd highest transaction throughout all of Manhattan.
Wider economic indicators have been going in a favorable direction, which will certainly contribute to more transactions in the coming quarters. Notably, the 0.6% reduction in rates implemented by the Fed in Q3 is expected to increase buyer confidence.
As the NYC workforce spends more time in the city, growing demand is expected for high-end residential properties. With these favorable economic signals and heightened buyer activity, the fall selling season is set to build on the market’s strength and drive continued interest in the townhouse sector.
Brooklyn:
In an overall slow moving past 12 months in the NYC real estate market, Brooklyn townhouses performed quite nicely. Although the number of sales were down 5.9%, dollar volume, average sales price, and $/sqft were all up compared to the prior year. This means that while purchasers were more discerning and had less motivation in their searches, they were willing to step-up in terms of pricing for the most suitable homes. One driver is that renovated products were in high demand and there was an overall lack of supply in the Brooklyn market.
Highlighted Sales:
19 Montgomery Place. A 30-foot-wide single-family home in Park Slope, sold for $12.5M, over $2,000/sqft.
155 Warren Street. A 25-foot-wide single-family home with parking in Cobble Hill, sold for $15M, approx. $2,800/sqft.
Looking ahead to the end of the year, there are 47 properties currently in contract in Brooklyn, setting up a nice ending to the year and a promising start to 2025. Should interest rates come down, The Swillinger Teams expected increased demand in the overall market in all sectors.