Median price for Manhattan co-ops and condos hit $1.25 million in second quarter
- Listings dropped 15 percent and transactions were down by 6.3 percent compared to a year ago
This was the sixth, straight quarter to see a year-over-year increase in Manhattan’s median sales price for co-ops and condos, according to Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel.
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Luxury and new development listings in Manhattan continued to fall in the second quarter, which helped drive the median sales price for condos and co-ops to a new record high.
The median sales price for condos and co-ops hit $1.25 million, an increase of 4.2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2025, according to a new market overview from Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. This was the sixth, straight quarter to see a year-over-year increase in Manhattan’s median sales price for co-ops and condos.
Apartment sales listings dropped 15 percent on annual basis and transactions were down by 6.3 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, except for units in the $2 million to $4 million price range, the only segment to see an increase in deals, as per Miller’s report.
Monthlies outpace inflation
Condo and co-op owners pay monthly fees to contribute to the cost of running the building and those expenses are rising sharply, a result of rising insurance premiums and utility costs, among other factors. It’s a major consideration for buyers, especially those on a budget.
Monthly charges “continue to outpace inflation for sales that closed in the quarter,” Miller told Brick. The average monthly maintenance of a co-op sale was $3,077 or $2.83 per square foot, up year over year by 10.2 percent and 16 percent, respectively. The average monthly condo common charge plus real estate taxes was $4,466 or $3.37 per square foot.
Luxury buyers ‘insulated’
Inflation and mortgage rates were elevated for most of the quarter, noted a Manhattan sales market report from Compass. New York’s first-ever pied-à-terre tax was also passed as part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget.
High-end co-ops were the only segment to see a significant increase in active listings, with units in the $10 million to $20 million range up 32.4 percent and the $20 million-plus bracket up 20 percent, it said. Ultra-luxury condo deals above $10 million soared 54.5 percent.
Several factors are driving these high-end deals, said Christine Miller Martin, a broker at Compass.
“Record equity markets, strong Wall Street bonuses, generational wealth transfers, and major liquidity events from recent IPOs have put capital directly in the hands of the buyer pool competing for these assets. At the same time, inventory at the very top of the market remains scarce,” she said.
Many more days on market
Deals took longer in the second quarter, a market report from Coldwell Banker Warburg pointed out.
In Manhattan, properties were on the market for an average of 95 days, an increase of 21.8 percent year over year and 13.1 percent from Q1.
“Manhattan appears to be moving out of its post-pandemic sideways pattern, but the next leg higher is likely to be uneven and highly product-specific,” wrote Kevelyn Guzman, regional vice president at Coldwell Banker Warburg.
‘Luxury has become its own animal’
The median sales price for new development condos reached $2.5 million in the second quarter, as per a report from SERHANT.
The Upper East Side emerged as the quarter's standout submarket, the report said, with a 36.4 percent increase in deals compared to the year-ago quarter. Four-bedroom units and larger saw a 41.3 percent growth in sales volume.
The Manhattan sales market is increasingly divided by price, said Coury Napier, head of research at SERHANT. “Luxury has become its own animal,” he said, and the rest of the market behaves very differently.
“[T]he market that is constrained by affordability pressure and mortgage rates have kept buyers out of the game. The Upper East Side's 36 percent sales growth and the across-the-board surge in four-bedroom units underscore that when inventory lands in the right place and price range, it moves,” Napier said.
Eyes on co-op and condo resales
Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens, discussed resales of co-ops and condos in her firm’s report.
The average co-op resale price was $1,550,241, which is 9 percent higher than one year ago. Resale condo prices averaged 5 percent less than a year ago, due in part to a decline in closings of over $20 million, Freedman wrote.
“Despite the uncertainty caused by the war in Iran, which has reignited inflation and pushed mortgage rates up by 0.50 percent, demand for apartments has remained steady,” she said. The labor market and the stock market both had a strong first half of the year. “Consumer spending remains strong even with rising prices, which bodes well for economic growth in the coming months,” she said.
Pied-à-terre tax early impact
The Manhattan market showed some early effects of the new pied-à-terre tax on contract activity, said Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of The Corcoran Group. (Contract activity is an early indicator of where sales are headed.)
“While overall contracts climbed to a four-year high, activity above $5 million has softened since the tax was announced, with the sharpest pullback at the ultra-luxury end of the market, suggesting some buyers are already recalibrating as they assess the new landscape,” she wrote.
Signed contracts increased 11 percent year over year to 3,679 deals, the highest second-quarter total in four years and the eighth annual increase in the past nine quarters, the report said.
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