Transaction Volume Steady, Pricing Down, Offers Up

Posted April 4th, 2019 by Richard Pretsfelder, Sophie Smadbeck

2019 got off to a slow start, but after several closings at the end of February/beginning of March, Q1 quarter-over-quarter transaction volume was steady with 9 sales in 1Q 2019 vs. 10 in 1Q 2018. Not surprisingly, a less positive picture emerged on the pricing front. While the average price per foot was down a relatively modest 6.0% to $1,113/ft, the average sales price for the quarter declined by 25% to $5.9 million. The decline was largely attributable to several low priced multi-family sales with rent regulated tenants during 1Q 2019 vs. 3 of the neighborhood's highest priced single-family sales during 1Q 2018. On the plus side, along with the 5 sales that were recorded towards the end of 1Q 2019, we've also noticed an uptick in buyer activity as the year has progressed. Most notably, we currently have offers on nine of our listings, a stark contrast to the more tepid interest we saw through much of last year where offers were few and far between. The challenge for now is bridging the gap between buyer and seller expectations in order to get transactions closed.

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