February – 2024 Market Update

We at The LevinKong Team hope this finds you well. We are excited that the spring season and the warm weather accompanying it are around the corner. Along with many New Yorkers, we eagerly await al fresco dining, picnics in the parks, and our other favorite outdoor activities in this incredible city.

After a relatively strong finish to 2023, our January market cooled off significantly, matching the weather outside. Things turned around, as we saw a significant uptick in demand in February. This trend bodes well for our upcoming spring market. In Manhattan, the market pulse (ratio of pending-to-active listings) reached .8. This marked a 327% increase from the prior month and 1,100% year-over-year. In Brooklyn, the market pulse hit .7, a rise of 31% from January and 58% from the preceding year. Brooklyn, particularly the highly desired northern neighborhoods, had already performed exceptionally well. Manhattan had a lot of ground to make up, and it did.

It is still a very segmented market, and prime neighborhoods, desirable buildings, and renovated properties are the recipient of most of the attention. Expert pricing is a non-negotiable, and mispriced property, particularly in vulnerable areas, is being punished by a discerning buyer pool. We are breaking price records in winning locations. For instance, the Chelsea three-bedroom co-op market has a market pulse of 1.8, up 327% from the prior month and 1,130% from last year. The Park Slope two-bedroom market is currently the hottest segment for buyers. There, the market pulse is a tremendous 4.8 (nearly five times as much inventory is in contract compared to active listings), which increased 622% from January.

Interest rates continue to play a significant role in market dynamics. Wall Street is forecasting that the first rate cut will occur in June, not March, as previously expected. Inflation is likely to slow toward 2% and pave the way for reductions in U.S. interest rates “later this year,” the New York Federal Reserve Bank president said this week. John Williams said the hot inflation readings in January are likely just a ”bump” — a word being used by most Fed officials — and that price pressures are subsiding. “Inflation’s still above 2%, but definitely now below 3%,” Williams said in an interview with Axios published Friday. “And I think the signs are consistent with it continuing to come down, trend down going forward.”

With proper guidance, many ways exist to take advantage of this dynamic and intricate market. 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.