Manhattan Market Dashboard
Metric Latest Weekly Number
30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate 6.67%
Manhattan Active Inventory 6,022
Manhattan New Listings 193
Manhattan Signed Contracts 205
Manhattan Median Days on Market 65 days
The latest Manhattan numbers continue to show a market with limited inventory and buyers who are still making decisions.
There were 205 signed contracts against 193 new listings in the latest weekly report, which is an interesting relationship between new supply and the number of deals being made.
Manhattan rentals are telling us something
The rental numbers coming out of Manhattan this summer are hard to ignore.
The median market-rate rent reached $5,000 in July, according to recent reporting, while listings were down 39% from a year earlier. Apartments are also spending less time on the market. Another report put the average Manhattan rent at $6,655, with a vacancy rate of just 1.49%, the lowest level since 1968.
Those are big numbers. But what interests me more is what they tell us about the people living in New York.
People are still coming here.
That’s easy to forget when we’re surrounded by stories about affordability, taxes and the cost of living. But somebody is signing these leases. In fact, the demand for smaller apartments is particularly strong. The latest Realtor.com data showed Manhattan’s median asking rent at $5,117 in the second quarter, up 9% from a year earlier. Brooklyn was up 5.9%.
For an agent, I think there is a useful lesson here.
A renter paying $5,000 or more every month eventually starts asking a different question. “How long do I want to keep doing this?”
That doesn’t mean every renter becomes a buyer. It does mean that agents who understand both sides of the market have an opportunity to have a much better conversation.
If I’m working with a renter today, I’m interested in more than finding the next apartment. I want to understand where that person sees themselves two or three years from now. Are they building a career? Saving money? Expecting a change in income? Thinking about buying?
The rental market isn’t just a rental story. It’s part of the pipeline into the sales market.
And when rents become this expensive while inventory becomes this scarce, I think it’s worth paying attention to what that may mean for the next group of New Yorkers who decide they want to own instead of rent.
Think beyond the deal,
George