Dive Brief:

• Manhattan, in New York City, is poised for another year of sluggish price growth in 2017 in the wake of an easing in the luxury apartment segment of the market, according to a forecast by real estate listing website StreetEasy.

• Price growth in Manhattan next year is expected to be the slowest of all the boroughs at 0.6% compared to 0.5% in 2016, bringing the median resale price there to $985,585 in 2017. Queens is expected to see the most significant price growth in 2017 at 4.4%, while Brooklyn is set for a 3% rise. The Bronx is the only borough where resale prices are expected to drop, falling 1.4% over the next 12 months. The report did not include figures for Staten Island.

• Rents are also set to continue soaring across New York City next year, with the biggest year-over-year gains (9.8%) reported for the Bronx. This trend could prompt more people to consider purchasing a home, according to StreetEasy. 

Dive Insight:

StreetEasy’s forecast dovetails with recent comments by builders reporting a slowdown in the top-tier of the luxury residential market in New York that is forcing developers to switch their focus toward more moderately priced properties.

Manhattan’s luxury segment was the first market tier to record price drops, in November 2015, a trend that has continued for the past year, according to StreetEasy. The company forecasts this trend to spill over into all market segments in Manhattan next year, which will make it one of the slowest years of price growth for the borough in the past several years.

Despite an easing in the top end of the market, Manhattan’s home building activity remains fairly robust. Residential starts from January through September of this year accounted for 50% of the total $9.4 billion value of residential starts city-wide, the New York Building Congress reported last month.

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