Most Contracts Signed Since June | February 2023 Manhattan Real Estate Market Report Analysis

In this episode, expert NYC real estate brokers John Gasdaska and Jonathan Conlon review Corcoran’s February 2023 Manhattan Real Estate Market Report and give their analysis.

Here’s the short version:

In February 2023, Manhattan’s real estate market saw year-over-year declines in contracts signed, but a huge increase month-over-month. In fact, February 2023 was the most active month for contracts signed since June 2022.

Days on Market for both condos and co-ops were up by about 20% annually but fell for the first time in three months to an average of 152 days. There are currently more than 6,200 active listings in Manhattan, which is up 7% year-over-year but still below the five-year February average of 6,800 listings. We still need a lot more inventory for levels to be considered ‘normal’.

Overall, the market showed some promising signs of recovery during February. Contracts signed increased significantly month-over-month, inventory levels are increasing, and Days On Market show that both new inventory and older inventory are transacting.

But as always, there’s more to the story. Here’s our full February 2023 Manhattan Real Estate Market Report Analysis:

February 2023 Manhattan Real Estate Market Report Analysis

Contracts Signed and Closed Sales

During February 2023, Manhattan saw a total of 934 contracts signed, which represented a 29% decline compared to the same period in the previous year but a 40% increase compared to the previous month.

There is also a boost in confidence in both the lower end of the market and the higher end. Units priced between $1M to $2M jumped 54% versus January, signaling that many younger/first-time buyers are getting used to higher interest rates and are ready to transact once the appropriate inventory is available. Sales over $5M were also up compared to January – increasing 40%.

Overall, contracts signed are improving in the spring market and we hope to continue to see more apartments transacting as we head into summer.

Inventory

Manhattan inventory increased by 7% compared to February 2022 and 3% compared to January 2023, resulting in just over 6,230 active listings.

As we mentioned last month, units can only transact if they are on the market, so it’s still imperative that we see more inventory hit the market if it is to truly recover to ‘normal levels’.

It will take time for inventory to build up, so while we hope to continue to see the total number of active listings increase, it will be a while before we stop feeling the constriction that lower inventory numbers are having on the market.

Days on Market

While we saw a sharp increase in Days on Market last month, this month we saw a slight decrease. This mostly has to do with new spring inventory transacting quickly (and therefore pulling the average Days on Market down) combined with units that have been listed for a long time finally transacting (pushing the average Days on Market up).

The February 2023 Manhattan Real Estate Market Report shows that while the market is improving, it is still in a state of transition. With shifting conditions comes opportunity, so if you’re thinking of buying or selling, reach out!