March – 2024 Market Update

We at the LevinKong Team hope you are doing well and enjoying the first days of spring. March has been a rollercoaster ride as we experienced incredible weather early and then a sudden return to winter. We are now fully planted in the highly anticipated spring season. In New York City, we welcome the renewed bustle on our sidewalks and the blooms in our many parks and tree-lined blocks. As we wrap up the first quarter, we also see strong signs of a spring return in our real estate market (although the wide variance in economic indicators and forecasting has certainly kept us on our toes).

We have been swamped this month, bringing incredible inventory to market while helping our many buyer clients secure value as the market shifts against them. Inventory is lower than this time last year in both our Manhattan and Brooklyn markets, down 3.3% and 5.4%, respectively. Simultaneously, demand, meaning contract activity, is up considerably, 17.4% in Manhattan and 30.2% in Brooklyn. Buyers in many market segments are still achieving substantial value, but as this trend continues, we expect prices to rise as competition for good inventory continues.

We are still not a one-size-fits-all market, as pronounced segmentation continues. Manhattan’s market pulse (ratio-of-pending-to-active) sits at .5, a neutral market indicator. However, the market pulse in Greenwich Village is .8, a sign of a sellers’ market, and midtown’s is .25, a buyers’ market yardstick. For many of our prime Brooklyn locations, the market pulse is well over 1.0, meaning more properties are in contract than currently available. Buyers in that market were hopeful that more inventory would hit the market this spring and offer some much-needed relief. That has yet to prove to be the case.

First-time homebuyers in lower price points are active again, and very liquid luxury buyers continue deploying their cash to target opportunities. The middle of our market is relatively stuck. Many of our would-be within-the-city upsizers are enjoying their low interest rates too much to consider a move currently. This segment is so tied to interest rates. While we expect three rate cuts later this year, think paper cuts and not much more.

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.