First Half of 2019 Closes with an Increase in Sales Activity

Posted June 5th, 2019 by Richard Pretsfelder, Sophie Smadbeck

While 2019 got off to a slow start both in terms of dollar volume and pricing, there were four sales in May, including the high sale of the year at 37 West 88th Street for $8.875M, a 21'-wide, single-family home in need of extensive renovations. We currently have offers on seven of our listings, several of which we are actively negotiating. In this market, the challenge is bridging the gap in pricing between the buyer and seller given the adjusting market. While there is still uncertainty, the general feeling is that buying will pick up in the coming months, given the volume of offers, showings, price drops and tightening of the bid-ask spread. The number of sales year-over-year is flat, with 14 sales through both May 2018 and May 2019. The main difference has been pricing. Three of the highest priced sales of 2018 occurred within the first two months of the year, while there has yet to be a sale in 2019 that breaks $9M. This accounts for the 24% decrease in both average sales price and total dollar volume year-over-year. Around this time last year was when pricing started to decline, so looking forward we should see year-over-year statistics level off, particularly as some of the higher priced properties in contract close in the coming months.

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