This holiday season brings some good news to NYC homebuyers

The most wonderful time of the year is here. Although the holiday season is not a peak time to buy real estate, the end of the year might offer some great deals to New Yorkers looking to move into a new home in 2023. 

The New York City housing market has slowed down this November, and it is starting to resemble pre-pandemic times, according to a recent report from StreetEasy. Last month, more sellers were willing to lower the asking price, and listings took longer to get off the market. 

As mortgage rates surpassed the 7 percent mark in early November, the number of homes that went into contract last month sank. However, since then, the interest rates have fallen below 7 percent, and NYC's listing inventory has gone up. In November, there were 18,026 homes listed for sale on StreetEasy, up 1.7 percent from last year. This is the first yearly increase in NYC's for-sale inventory since July 2021. 

“In the second half of 2021, resurgence in demand driven by record-low mortgage rates drew down available inventory, which intensified competition among buyers in spring 2022,” StreetEasy economist Kenny Lee wrote in the report. “Sales inventory is now rebounding as listings are sitting on the market for longer and more buyers wait on the sidelines.”

While nearly 12 percent of NYC sellers had lowered their asking prices last month, they still price optimistically. A typical Manhattan home sold for $1.1 million in November, just 0.5 percent below its peak in August. Homes listed for sale in this borough last month spent, on average, 84 days on the market, 20 days more than a year ago. Listings that went through price reductions lowered their asking price by 5.3 percent. 

Homebuyers in Brooklyn have to brace themselves for fierce competition. In this borough, homes spent, on average, 62 days on the market, the same as in November of last year. The number of homes listed for sale continued to decrease. Last month, the listing inventory fell 8.2 percent to 4,482 available units. The limited inventory and strong demand push prices to go up. Sale prices rose 2.5 percent year-over-year to $695,000, according to the report.  

Resources:

“NYC Buyers Saw Modest Holiday Bargains in November,” by Kenny Lee (StreetEasy, 2022)

“Three signs NYC homesellers are losing leverage,” by Harrison Connery (The Real Deal, 2022)

“Inventory in New York City Rose in November, as Did Price Cuts,” by V. L. Hendrickson (Mansion Global, 2022)