Dive Brief:
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For-sale inventory in Manhattan and Brooklyn, NY, is tight as the summer homebuying season gets underway. In Manhattan, inventory fell 11% from April 2016 to April 2017. Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Northwest Brooklyn saw inventory drop 24% for the period, Curbed New York reported.
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Like many U.S. markets, job growth and more participation among first-time buyers is contributing to the increasing demand, according to StreetEasy.
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Median resale prices in Manhattan were up 1.3% year-over-year while Brooklyn resale prices increased 6.3% for the period to reach a new high.
Dive Insight:
Inventory continues to be tight across New York City, but conditions there are more favorable than in the rest of the country — if only slightly. Where inventory delivers, the cost of that stock could be pushing prospective buyers out. A recent report from Attom Data Solutions found that buyers would need to spend more than 43% of their income to afford a mid-range home in New York City. A 30% share is considered a mark of housing affordability.
There are signs that the city is trying to tackle its inventory shortage, which is driving price increases. The New York Building Congress reported that the number of residential building permits issued tripled from Q1 2016 to Q1 2017. And on the affordable housing front, a new $20 billion statewide initiative to manage homelessness includes $100 million to build or preserve entirely affordable housing in New York City and $125 million to remodel or replace low-income senior housing developments there.
Renters in the city, however, have greater advantage, with 15,291 new market-rate units opening in 2017 versus the 8,774 that opened last year, The New York Times reported. The flood of inventory has landlords boosting amenities and deals, with extras such as TVs, Netflix subscriptions and negotiable security deposits.
