Brooklyn dealmaking and listings began to show signs of life in May, as the city emerged from the depths of its Covid-19 crisis, according to data released by agency Douglas Elliman on Thursday.
Home buyers signed 78 contracts for Brooklyn condos last month compared to the 140 such deals made in May 2019. While it marks a 44% decline from a year ago, condo dealmaking in the outer borough was considerably higher than in March and April and showed more resiliency than Manhattan.
Brooklyn condo sellers also felt more optimistic last month, as more than 180 new listings hit the market, only a little off (14%) new listings a year ago. Meanwhile, new, single-family listings in the borough are nearly back where they were in February, before Covid-19.
Its co-op market, in which buyers undergo more scrutiny during the sale process, saw less bounce back in May and was still down more than 75% from a year ago.
Manhattan also saw an uptick in activity, but to a lesser extent than in its more affordable neighbor. Dealmaking was down more than 80% in May for both co-ops and condos from a year ago, according to Douglas Elliman. Activity in its trophy-home segment dried up even more, with only two deals for homes asking north of $10 million signed last month. Both were condos.
Those luxury homes that did find buyers last month tended to be on the lower end of that spectrum, with three deals agreed to between $4 million and $10 million.
But it’s the mainstream market driving most of dealmaking in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, as the vast majority of contracts signed in May were for homes under $2 million.
source:wsm
