Real Estate Talk: The Suburbs Might be Booming, but New York Isn’t Dead Yet

Lately, it would seem that so many people are rooting for the fall of NYC. This comes from the fact that the calm of the suburbs is going to eventually replace the Big Apple, even after the pandemic. In many ways, they could well be right, but so many real estate professionals from the tri-state believe that NYC’s situation is both complicated and temporary. The Manhattan housing market has been hit incredibly hard by the looks of things. Potential buyers are very cautious about buying property in the city and the number of condo contracts has so far declined by around 34%. Co-ops have dropped by around 34% and it would also seem that small family homes have dropped by around 11% as well.

Greenwich, Connecticut

When you look at Greenwich, Connecticut– you will soon see that the number of contracts that have been signed is well up by 186% and that this is a shocking rise when you look at the increase from last year. Contracts are up 104% from the Hamptons and even in Westchester, agents are now seeing way more activity. It would seem that the market has peaked already. People are still searching for the New York favorite home insurance though which is a good sign.

Yashmin Lloylds, who is a compass broker in Connecticut has stated that Greenwich is currently having the strongest market it has ever had, but this is all temporary. Realtors are running out of inventory right now and it would seem that there are no rentals available. Most of the homes on the market right now are very high-end and even the most established realtors would agree that the boom in the suburbs is the real red flag here.

At the end of the day, everybody is scared. A lot of the landlords are incredibly nervous. Chris Okada is a real estate broker and he is also an investor. He is in Manhattan and he has said that the Upper East Side is a ghost town. It would appear that there are moving trucks everywhere but everyone is forgetting about Brooklyn. It’s also important to take locations such as Queens and even Staten Island into account as well.

City Shutting Down

Lindsay Barton Barrett who is an agent for Douglas Elliman in Brooklyn has stated that the stories about the exodus all came out because the city was shut down and that other markets began operating much sooner. If you shut down the city of New York for any period of time then you are going to see very comparative activity elsewhere.

New Yorkers happened to go to their in-laws or even their parents for a few months during the pandemic and they went into neighbourhoods where they wouldn’t normally. Summer towns got a lot of activity during the Summer and there was an influx of people in the suburbs. There still are right now. New York is still closed but it did change the market temporarily.

Derderian has stated that right now, it would seem that the Hamptons is the strongest market in the tri-state region. The number of sales is currently between $3-5 million and it is up by over 259%. The amount of sales between $10-$20 million happens to be up by 150% as well. People may still have properties in the city, and they may be investing in the suburbs because they have come to the conclusion that they want more space and because they want better living conditions during the weekend.

Of course, when you look at the overall uncertainty, you will also see that there are some prices dropping. Studios in Manhattan and even Brooklyn are now getting the biggest reaction and the main reason for that is because nobody can live in a studio right now. It’s far too claustrophobic for those who are having to work from home.

Right now, there are so many apartments coming onto the market and the crisis has caused a lot of people to actively re-evaluate their future. If the country remains as angrily split and divided as it is right now, then this may cause even more people to leave. Of course, the outcome of the election could be a huge factor in the future of a ton of cities.

Only time will tell if this is going to change but right now it looks like there is so much that needs to be done to try and get the property market moving again. If this can be done soon then NYC could grow to thrive and be better than ever before.