A report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel says that the average sales price for Manhattan real estate fell 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The average sales price fell to $1.8 million, while the median sales price fell below $1 million.
Sales of apartments priced at $5 million or more fell 38% in Q4, leaving behind a two-year supply of luxury apartments on the market.
Now, CNBC says there is an eight-month supply of unsold apartments. Out of the previous nine quarters, eight have seen a drop in real estate sales in Manhattan, a considerably pricey market.
Tax pressures and rising inventory are what brokers say may keep buyers at bay.
“I think we’ll see more of the same,” Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, said to CNBC. “The problem with saying that 2020 will mark the bottom is that it suggests it will go up after that. And I think we still have another couple of years of moving sideways.”
Last summer, a new mansion tax hit the multimillion-dollar apartment market in New York.
Buyers were rushing to close before the new state taxes kicked in on July 1.
The new taxes boost the previous 1% fee on sales of $1 million and above – known as a “mansion tax,” though it applies to all types of homes, not just townhouses – to 1.25% for sales priced above $2 million and 3.9% for a sale of $25 million or more. The transfer tax increases from 0.4% to 0.65%.
This means that the mansion tax makes already high-tax states, like New York, more expensive.
CNBC said there is an expected 2,000 new condos to come onto the market this year, but buyers are steering to the rental market, even in luxury.
