Market shift is happening in NYC right now. Buyers, your leverage is slowly going away

Let me explain what’s happening in the Manhattan real estate market as summer ends and fall approaches.

Usually, the summer months are slow for real estate, but lower interest rates have kept the market more active than expected. This might mean that the fall season could be better for home sales than people thought.

For the past two years, Manhattan has seen fewer real estate deals than usual, making it harder for sellers to find buyers. However, recent data (graph below) shows that more contracts were signed in August than expected, which could be a sign that this trend is changing. It is a meaningful change.

The number of available homes for sale is also going down, which means that buyers have less power to negotiate better deals.

The best deal I found, is to sit on a negotiating table 1 vs 1. Once more players enter the picture, it substantially gets more challenging.

NYC is an international real estate market!

Sellers should get ready to list their homes in mid-September and to price them reasonably to make the most of the short fall selling season, which ends around Thanksgiving.

For buyers, finding a great deal is getting tougher as sellers have more control. You should act quickly if they find a good deal and avoid being too picky, as the market might become more competitive as we move into 2025 and uncertainty around elections and mortgage rates fades.

The official numbers only get recorded after a transaction closes and typically, it takes 60-90 days. I do need to emphasize that those market report statistics that you see in mainstream media lags about 2-3 months behind what’s actually happening.