As summer came to a close, the Manhattan and Brooklyn sales markets cooled while the market in Queens remained uniquely competitive in August, according to the August 2017 StreetEasy® Market Reports[i].

Sales prices remained flat in Manhattan with a median of $1,163,499, and rose 3.7 percent in Brooklyn to $753,571. Home prices in Queens grew the most of the three boroughs, up 7.4 percent year-over-year to $503,864. Queens also strayed from the Manhattan and Brooklyn trend, with homes selling six days faster than in August 2016. In Manhattan, homes spent a median of 84 days on the market — up two weeks compared to this time last year — and Brooklyn homes spent 68 days on the market in August, up eight days year-over-year.

“The glut of luxury housing in Manhattan and Brooklyn has been a key driver of the slower-moving markets in those areas, and we’re beginning to see the oversupply at the top of the market have a small effect on the prices of less expensive units. More affordable housing options are still limited and as a result, New Yorkers are increasingly turning to Queens for the best deals, causing home prices and competition there to spike,” said StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “Heading into the fall, we expect buyers to continue to have the upper hand at the high end of the sales market, while those looking for more affordable homes will need to act fast when they see a unit they like within their price range.”

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See below for additional sales and rental market trends across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

August 2017 Key Findings – Manhattan
• Homes spent two weeks longer on the market than last year. For-sale homes in Manhattan spent a median of 84 days on the market – two weeks longer than in August 2016 and on pace to reach a five-year high this winter.
• Midtown homes took the longest to sell; Inwood homes sold the fastest. Homes in Midtown spent a median of 182 days on the market, while those in Inwood lasted just 49 days.
• Price growth in less expensive homes slowed substantially. Median resale prices stagnated year-over-year at $1,163,499[ii]. Prices for the least expensive homes rose just 0.8 percent since last year – the slowest rate of growth in nearly five years — while luxury home prices fell 2.7 percent.
• Manhattan rents inched up. Median asking rents rose 0.6 percent from August 2016 to $2,992[iii]. Rents for the least expensive units grew at a slightly faster rate: 1 percent year-over-year.
• Rents increased the most in Upper Manhattan. Upper Manhattan rents rose 2.3 percent since last year to $2,215, maintaining its four-year record for the fastest rent growth in the borough.

August 2017 Key Findings – Brooklyn
• Homes took eight days longer to sell. Homes in Brooklyn spent a median of 68 days on the market, eight days longer than in August 2016.
• Resale prices rose nearly twice as fast as last year. The median resale price in Brooklyn rose 3.7 percent since last year to $753,571, nearly twice as fast as the annual price growth seen in August 2016.
• Brooklyn rents rose slightly; increasing the most in South and East Brooklyn. Median asking rents rose 1.1 percent to $2,459. Rents in South and East Brooklyn rose 3 and 1.9 percent annually, to $1,786 and $2,319, respectively.
• Rents dropped in Brooklyn’s most expensive neighborhoods. Asking rents in Prospect Park and Northwest Brooklyn dropped by 0.5 and 0.2 percent, respectively, since last year. This summer marked the first time on StreetEasy record that either area saw rents drop.

August 2017 Key Findings – Queens
• Homes sold faster than last year. Homes in Queens spent a median of 53 days on the market, 6 fewer days than in August 2016 (59 days).
• Queens sales prices rose at the fastest rate. The median resale price in Queens rose 7.4 percent year-over-year to $503,864. Prices in the Rockaways rose at the fastest pace, up 15.6 percent compared to August 2016.
• Prices for the least expensive homes increased the most. Median resale price for the least expensive homes grew 9.4 percent since this time last year, while homes in the top fifth of the market grew just 3.5 percent.
• Rents grew at their slowest pace on record. Despite Queens rents rising more than those in Manhattan and Brooklyn, its pace of price growth was the slowest on record: up 1.4 percent year-over-year to $1,998.
• Northwest Queens’ rents rose the least. Median asking rents in Northwest Queens rose just 0.5 percent since last year to $2,059.

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[i] The StreetEasy Market Reports are a monthly overview of the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens sales and rental markets. Every three months, a quarterly analysis is published. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens with more than a decade of history for most metrics. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit http://streeteasy.com/blog/market-reports/. StreetEasy tracks data for all five boroughs within New York City, but currently only produces reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

[ii] Median resale price is measured by the StreetEasy Price Indices, monthly indices that track changes in resale prices of condo, co-op, and townhouse units. Each index uses a repeat-sales method of comparing the sales prices of the same properties since January 1995 in Manhattan and January 2007 in Brooklyn and Queens. Given this methodology, each index accurately captures the change in home prices by controlling for the varying composition of homes sold in a given month. Data on sale of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/

[iii]Similar to the StreetEasy Price Indices, median rents are measured by the StreetEasy Rent Indices. By including only valid and verified listings from StreetEasy and employing a repeat rentals approach, the indices emphasize the changes in rent on individual properties and not between different sets of properties. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/