The supertall condo building One57 is an icon in the New York City luxury market. Despite its prestige, 10 apartments there have sold at a loss in the last five years. (William Edwards/AFP/Getty Images)
Last year, an astounding 70 percent of the homes listed for sale between March and May eventually went for below their initial asking price. In Manhattan, the trend was particularly acute, with 77 percent closing below asking. While 61 percent of Brooklyn listings also closed below ask, some pockets saw a large share of homes close for far higher than their original price.
Here, we look at neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn that saw the most closings above and below asking price, and consider what that means for the broader NYC housing market.
Luxury-Dense Neighborhoods See Highest Share of Discounted Closings
Over the last year, luxury condos in Midtown particularly struggled to maintain value. Some 92 percent of homes listed last spring closed below ask. And many properties actually sold at a loss: One StreetEasy report found that 39 percent of the Midtown homes sold between 2014 and 2018 actually went for less than their previous purchase price.
The median asking price in Tribeca is currently $4.635 million.
Downtown Manhattan’s Trendiest Neighborhoods Flounder
The difficulty plaguing sales in Midtown Manhattan also impacted sales downtown. Although a Tribeca address has long been synonymous with cool, prices there are proving too rich for their own good. Last spring, a resounding 90 percent of all listings in the neighborhood sold below ask. Just to Tribeca’s north, SoHo faced similar struggles, with 89 percent of listings closing below ask.
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Battery Park City and the Financial District are among Downtown Manhattan’s most affordable areas, but have quite different housing stock.
Value-Friendly Downtown Neighborhoods Struggle, Too
The historically more affordable downtown neighborhoods of Battery Park City and the Financial District fared little better. In fact, 94 percent of all sales in Battery Park City sold closed below ask, even though the median asking price there was $1,250,000, compared to Downtown Manhattan’s $2,199,000. Despite its ostensible value, the density of BPC’s homogeneous housing stock, as well as its prevalence of land-lease buildings, likely contributed to the difficulty of selling there.
Over in the Financial District, the market is slightly healthier, with only 86 percent of listings closing below ask. Prices are slightly higher than in Battery Park City, with a median of $1.4 million. Despite the two neighborhoods’ proximity, there are some key differences. In FiDi, there were 15 condominiums built since 2015. In Battery Park City, there were zero. FiDi’s newer housing stock may prove easier to sell, at least in the short term, than the older condos in Battery Park City. But if recent sales are any indication, future sellers in the area may need to enter the market with more modest expectations.
In Park Slope, 40 percent of homes sold above their initial asking price.
Brownstone Brooklyn Continues to See Closings Above Ask
Neighborhoods traditionally considered part of brownstone Brooklyn have managed to buck the citywide trend. Last spring, nearly half of all sales in Fort Greene closed above asking price. Close behind, Carroll Gardens saw 46 percent of sales close above ask. And in the most iconic brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood, Park Slope, a solid 40 percent of sales closed above ask.
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If anything, the performance of these markets compared to Manhattan speaks to the uniqueness and relative value of their housing stock. All three of these areas are dense with 19th century Victorian architecture, which often means historic interior details and plenty of curb appeal. While not everyone may want a historic home, these neighborhoods clearly offer value. Both Park Slope and Fort Greene have significantly lower median asking prices than Manhattan. Especially in the current market, homes priced more modestly are more likely to close above asking price than aggressively priced homes.
In Ditmas Park, 38 percent of sales closed above ask.
Neighborhoods Near Prospect Park Also Close Above Ask
Of the six neighborhoods directly abutting Prospect Park, five saw 38 percent or more sales close above asking price. In Windsor Terrace, a small neighborhood just south of Prospect Park, 42 percent of sales closed above ask. Thirty-eight percent sold above ask in Ditmas Park, Prospect Heights and Flatbush.
Like brownstone Brooklyn, homes in the neighborhoods abutting Prospect Park — especially Ditmas Park and Windsor Terrace — have an appealing originality and charm. These are among the few places in the city where buyers can land a home with a rambling front porch, private garage and even a front yard.
They are also among the few places in the city where buyers can find direct access to green space along with relative affordability. All six neighborhoods surrounding Prospect Park have median asking prices well below Manhattan’s. Some, like Windsor Terrace and Flatbush, have median asking prices even below the $947,245 figure for Brooklyn overall.
Big shifts are happening in the NYC housing market. But as the Brooklyn data suggests, buyers are still willing to pay above asking price for a pleasant location, original design and good value.
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