4 Manhattan Neighborhoods Where Time on Market Is Skyrocketing

In New York City, price and time on market are usually correlated, with properties in expensive neighborhoods staying on the market longer, and those lower-priced areas moving more quickly. This fall, though, as NYC becomes a buyer’s market, homes across all price points in Manhattan are lingering on the market. According to the latest StreetEasy Market Reports, the median number of days on market for properties in Manhattan is up to 96, a full week longer than last year. This suggests buyers may have more flexibility in highly sought-after areas. Here’s a look at Manhattan neighborhoods where time on market has risen the most — and where hard-driving buyers may be especially likely to find a good deal.

Time on Market in Battery Park City Increases By 4 Weeks

• Median Days on Market: 99
• Annual Increase: 28 days
• Median Sale Price: $902,500

Although prices in Battery Park City offer a discount compared to the rest of Downtown Manhattan and Manhattan at large (where median prices were last recorded at $1.075 million and $1.5 million, respectively), they may still be still too high, given buyers’ current advantages. Sellers have been slow to recognize the changing conditions, with the share of price cuts falling 15 percent since last year. Sellers’ resistance to price reductions even as time on market skyrockets suggests unrealistic expectations that may soon be changing.

Upper East Side Feels the New Buyer’s Market

• Median Days on Market: 109
• Annual Increase: 25 days
• Median Sale Price: $1.4 million

A classic upper-crust Manhattan neighborhood, the Upper East Side has seen a tidal shift in its market conditions. Time on market has soared as co-ops and condos have lingered for more than three weeks longer on the market than last year. The neighborhood is now among the city’s slowest-selling markets, second only to Central Park South, the ultraluxury enclave where median days on market was last recorded at 114.

Sales on the Upper West Side Stagnate

• Median Days on Market: 98
• Annual Increase: 20 days
• Median Sale Price: $1.21 million

Given its size and density, the Upper West Side, like the Upper East Side, usually has some of the highest inventory levels in the city. Now, with sales stagnating, buyers are likely to have even more homes to choose from, and will have greater ability to negotiate. Sellers are responding to the shifting market conditions, but slowly. Our latest reports show price cuts up by nearly 25 percent over last year.

Chelsea Sellers Remain Confident Despite Slowing Market

• Median Days on Market: 101
• Annual Increase: 17 days
• Median Sale Price: $1.6 million

For decades, Chelsea’s unique housing stock and historic appeal have fueled competitive prices and drawn heavy interest from buyers. Until now, sellers in the area have had little reason to reconsider their expectations — but with time on market steadily creeping up, they may need to recalibrate. So far they have not. In fact, price cuts are down by 1.7 percent across Chelsea since last year.

Sellers across Manhattan are facing unfamiliar and unfavorable conditions: New markets in Queens are taking off; more New Yorkers are finding greater value in the flexibility of renting over buying; and the luxury market is stagnating.  Only time will tell whether sellers check their confidence and reduce prices to encourage faster sales, or dig in and attempt to wait out the slowdown.
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