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Manhattan sellers made up lost ground with new signed contracts last month

By Brick Underground  | November 5, 2020 - 9:30AM
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Sellers appear to have caught a break in October with contract signings, but much depends on where and what type of property you were selling.

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Sellers appear to have caught a break in October with contract signings, but much depends on where and what type of property you were selling.

The number of new signed contracts in October for Manhattan co-ops (510) came close to the same level seen in October 2019 (531), "narrow[ing] the gap from the same month a year ago," according to the Elliman Report, which looks at new signed contracts and new listings for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island, Hamptons, North Fork, Westchester County, Fairfield County, and Greenwich, CT.

That’s an improvement over September, which saw 353 new signed contracts for co-ops, compared to 528 in the prior year. New co-op listings also approached levels seen last October: there were 865 new listings, compared to 849 a year ago. (In September, there were 1,303 new co-op listings, compared to 783 a year ago.)

Looking at new signed contracts and listings provides a closer, “real-time” sense of the market, which is valuable today considering the delay of two to three months it takes to record sales in ACRIS and the rapid shifts in the market recently.

It was a different story for Manhattan condos: There were 317 new signed contracts, down from 440 in October 2019. That’s a small advance over the previous month: In September, there were 233 new signed contracts, down from 481 a year ago.

New condo listings were down—there were 721, compared to 971 in October 2019—a pattern similar to September.

In Brooklyn, the level of new signed contracts in October for all three types of properties leaped over the same month last year—a testament to the strength of the Brooklyn market these days. Single-family houses had 198 new contracts last month, compared to 61 in October 2019. Co-ops saw 167, as opposed to 96 a year ago, and condos saw 225, compared to 147. (In September, new signed contracts were flat compared to the previous year.)

New listings in Brooklyn grew the most for co-ops. There were 208 new listings in October compared to 142 in October 2019.

On Long Island, new signed contracts for single-family houses jumped 22.8 percent to 3,077 in October from 2,506 in October 2019. (There was a bigger leap in September over the prior year.) New listings were up 7.2 percent last month over the prior year.

In the Hamptons, new signed contracts were 232, more than double year-ago level of 115 (they were up 75.7 percent in September). There were 209 new listings in October, compared to 88 a year ago—a similar increase was seen in September. The North Fork also saw new signed contracts double in October—and new listings rise above last year.

Over in Westchester County, new signed contracts for single-family houses jumped 51.1 percent in October, from 485 to 733—similar to September. The number of new listings in October was consistent with the prior year. The same pattern played out for condos as well.

For Fairfield County in Connecticut, there were 791 single-family new signed contracts, an improvement over the year-ago level of 699, however new listings fell sharply—by 34.6 percent. New signed contracts were up 9.3 percent for condos, and new listings dropped 60.4 percent.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, new signed contacts for single-family houses (143) tripled from the same month last year (48)—and there’s “no evidence of plateauing” according to the report. New signed contracts were also up and listings for both types of properties roughly doubled from last year.

 

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