Sunday, August 30, 2026
Labor Day is almost here, and we’re about to find out how much of the usual September inventory actually comes back onto the Manhattan market.
Before we get there, here are the numbers I’m looking at.
Market Dashboard
Active Inventory — 4,674
New Listings — 104
Signed Contracts — 174
30-Day Contract Pace — 771
Median Days on Market — Under $1M: 79 days
Median Days on Market — $1M–$2M: 91 days
Median Days on Market — $2M–$4M: 82 days
Median Days on Market — $4M+: 98 days
30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate — 6.66%
The Market Dashboard uses the most current figures available from sources we can verify.
What I Noticed
What caught my attention this week is the combination of very little inventory and buyers who are still signing contracts.
Manhattan is beginning the fall season with considerably fewer apartments for sale than we had a year ago, and yet buyers haven’t gone away. That makes me curious about what happens when the usual September listings begin coming on the market.
I suspect some sellers are going to look at the lack of competition and conclude that they can reach a little further on price. I understand the temptation. If there are fewer apartments competing with yours, that’s certainly helpful. But buyers have spent the summer looking too. They know what they’ve seen, they know what has sold, and they have a pretty good sense of value by the time they walk into a new listing. Limited inventory can make a correctly priced apartment more attractive. It doesn’t change what a buyer is willing to pay simply because a seller wants more.
The mortgage number also feels almost ordinary now. Rates have been sitting in roughly the same range for quite a while, and buyers who remain active have had time to adjust to what that means for their monthly costs. I find that more interesting than another small weekly move up or down. The people still looking are increasingly making their decisions within the market we actually have instead of waiting for the market they hoped might arrive.
There’s one other development I’m watching. The city’s non-primary-residence surcharge is something agents working with potentially affected buyers and sellers should at least know is out there. I wouldn’t try to interpret the tax for anyone. That’s a conversation for the appropriate tax or legal professional. But knowing enough to recognize when the question should be raised is part of understanding the whole deal.
Labor Day always feels like the beginning of another chapter in New York real estate. I’m interested to see what sellers bring to the market, how buyers respond, and whether the shortage of inventory we’ve been watching through the summer changes the tone of those first few weeks.
What caught your eye this week?
Think Beyond The Deal,
George