According to the latest study from Ariel Property Advisors, the dollar volume of commercial real estate deals is up about 28% year to date over the same period in 2017. Additionally, 4 of the 5 boroughs are showing price increases in multi-family. Manhattan was up 16% price per unit versus last year. Only Brooklyn’s price per unit decreased.
This is consistent with what I am seeing which is continued foot traffic at my exclusives which include a 12 unit near Madison avenue in Central Harlem for $5.7 million and a 4500 sqft SRO in Mount Morris. Additionally, there is plenty of interest in 20-40 unit buildings Uptown with little inventory.
Commercial Observer coverage
The Author- 
Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
The Manhattan median rental price inched up 1.8% to $3,394 according to the latest report while the luxury rents stayed static at $8,194. According to the broker feedback there is a lot of inventory to absorbed into the market and concessions and price still drive the Manhattan rental market. While buyers are staying on the sidelines, you would think that rents were begin to increase but while lease activity in September has increased market wide we have to enter into a new cycle of rent increases. There is so much parity in the market in terms of choices and Manhattan has competition from both Queens and Brooklyn in terms of offerings and types of buildings.
TRD coverage
33 Luxury Manhattan apartments priced at $4 million and up went to contract last week marking the best late June week since records were kept by Olshan Realty. Could this be a turning point in the luxury market as the pipeline begins to dry up. There is still a lot of inventory out there that needs to be absorbed but market conditions in favor of buyers do not usually last long in Manhattan.
Real Deal coverage
With approximately 6,000 units of new development in the market throughout NYC, there is an obvious glut. But some developments like 250 W 81st street are raising prices. In the Robert A.M. Stern designed building, the largest units were the first to sell and the buyers are coming from the local market with zero foreign buyers. In addition, the location on Manhattan’s upper west side, has a scarcity of new development.
Most developers believe that within 2-3 years, most of the existing inventory will be gone so now is a good time for them to begin the process knowing full well the market may swing in the favor by the time they are ready to start selling.
Commercial Observer coverage
According to a recent report, the residential listings in Soho are experiencing price cuts of approximately 10% and usually are chopped another 5% after that. The market like many neighborhoods in Manhattan is a buyer’s market. Seller’s expectations are coming down but as this is happening in Soho, the sellers do not have to sell so the market is at an impasse.
The below table shows the number of active listings by bedroom count in Soho.
| # Bedrooms |
Active |
Low Price |
High Price |
| 1 |
36 |
$580,000 |
$11,000,000 |
| 2 |
58 |
$630,000 |
$12,250,000 |
| 3 + |
80 |
$1,995,000 |
$40,500,000 |
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
According to the latest report by Streeteasy, the Manhattan rental market is stabilizing ahead of the peak summer rental season as the sales market is still declining. I think this is supporting by what I am seeing with the summer rental market in full swing and the sales market struggling especially as owner’s expectations come to grips with the new buyer market conditions.
The median asking price on the upper west side of Manhattan is down about 10% year over year but this is also skewed by new development impact which pulls the median asking price higher. Now that the market has slowed, new development activity has slowed and the smart developers are bringing to market more affordable luxury product.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
Manhattan’s luxury market continues to record strong sales this spring with 21 contracts signed last week for properties at $4mm and above. Roughly half of those contracts were signed for downtown properties.
Real Deal coverage
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
24 Luxury contracts were signed last week for property $4mm and above in Manhattan. Discounts drove the action as the average discount from the listing price is over 10%. It’s not unusual that property owners who purchased in the last 3 years are selling at a loss in order to liquidate.
In other reports, rents are still trending down with concessions like free month’s rent and owner paid broker fees fueling activity especially in new developments where 90% of the apartments were rented with concessions. Just under half (44%) of the new leases signed in Manhattan in April included concessions.
Does it make sense for a Manhattan owner to pay the broker fee?
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
15-17 West 94th street– Two interconnected townhouses on a Park block which offering a mixture of free market and rent stabilized tenants were sold for a total of $9.6 million. The buildings were 18′ wide each and about 70 feet deep. This properties will be ideal for a conversion to condos or maybe a large mansion. The purchaser was Dikran Properties LLC. The sale closed 1/30/18.
42 West 94th street- Also located in the Upper west side/Central Park west historic district, this legal 8 unit townhouse had a mixture of free market and rent stabilized tenants. The 17 by 52 built townhouse sold for $4.35 million and closed 1/17/18. The purchaser was listed as 42 West 94th, Inc.
Both of these properties appeared to have changed hands in off market transactions though they were previously listed by real estate brokers.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
According to the Real Deal reports, the rental market stayed flat in February which is not that unusual given the time of the year.Full story here The sales market saw over 800 contracts signed with roughly half being co-ops and half being condos. The $1 to $2 million range continues to do well, accounting for nearly 30% of all deals.
Full coverage from The Real Deal
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every Manhattan market from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
News about the NYC real estate residential and commercial markets provided and interpreted by an industry veteran licensed since 1999. Brian Silvestry of BSRG Inc. Licensed real estate broker
