December 2022 Market Update

We, at the LevinKong Team, hope that you and your loved ones are well. The holiday season is in full swing, and the city streets are bustling with locals and tourists enjoying all that this magical time of year has to offer here in New York.

Our homes are essential to our family and holiday gatherings this time of year, and it is not lost on us how special and important these spaces are for making treasured memories. As we reflect on the year, we are so grateful to our clients for allowing us the privilege of helping them find new homes, and appreciative of all of our past clients, advocates, and agent partners who put their trust in us.

There have been many significant changes this year. The abrupt rate hikes slowed most U.S. home markets. It has been hard to sum up economic and housing data in any one succinct sentiment. Our market is no different in that it cannot be painted with wide brush strokes.

While transaction volume slowed, inventory levels continued their decline as well. The ratio of pending (contract signed) to actively listed properties (or market pulse), actually just ticked up 14.3% month-over-month in Manhattan. There is still a fair amount of buyer leverage in certain market segments, but we experienced a 23% bump in contract activity last week. We now expect our market to hibernate until after the holidays; however, we anticipate a very active spring.

While demand is still below the historical trend, prices seem to have leveled off after a modest decline. There are opportune market segments, and when less buyers are in the market some desperate sellers will always emerge. However, a combination of tight supply, historically high rents, and normal price appreciation in our market have kept us relatively stable compared to many markets across the country that have fared much worse. The NYC real estate market didn’t see the same meteoric rise that many did, so our landing has been a much softer one. In Brooklyn, we are already seeing certain properties receive multiple offers within days on market. We also have rates of return on rental properties that are much more favorable than in years past.

There are many ways to make this dynamic and intricate market work in your favor. More than ever, a data-driven, research-based approach, rooted in decades of experience, will equip our clients to thrive in this environment. Please stay safe and let us know if we can answer any questions you may have about the market, or how best to navigate complicated decisions. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!