Q3 2015 Residential Sales Report

The New York City residential sales market had slightly lower average sales prices but with increased sales in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter of 2014.

The average sales price of an NYC home decreased 2 percent to $888,000 compared to last year’s third quarter of $910,000 due to fewer sales recordings in the upper echelons of the market as well as a pickup of sales in the boroughs. The weakening of sales at the top of the market is clearly evident by looking at the following statistic. In the third quarter of 2015, the average sales price of a home in the top 5 percent of sales was $5,103,107. In the third quarter of last year, the average sales price of the top 5 percent of sales was $5,974,991, 17 greater than this year’s third quarter.

The overall volume of transactions in the NYC home sales market has increased though. Home sales increased by 11 percent this quarter over last year’s third quarter to reach a total of 13,302. The home sales markets in the boroughs outside of Manhattan had large gains this quarter. Home sales in Brooklyn increased 12 percent to 3,193 compared to this quarter last year, in Queens homes sales increased to 4,040, a 17 percent increase compared to the third quarter of last year and in the Bronx, sales increased to 917, a 35 percent increase from the third quarter of last year.

This quarter was the first time since the third quarter of 2014 that the Manhattan condo segment of the market did not have large average sales price increases. The previous quarters’ average condo sales price increases ranged from 28 percent in the first quarter of 2015 to 37 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014. The average price of a Manhattan condo in the third quarter of 2015 was $2,056,000, a 5 percent decrease from last year’s third quarter. The number of sales of Manhattan condominiums reached 1,501 in the third quarter, two units more than the third quarter of 2014.

The total consideration for all residential sales in New York City during the third quarter of 2015 was $11.8 billion, up 8.5 percent from the third quarter of last year.