People walk in view of residential luxury towers along Billionaires Row, a section of 57th street which holds the majority of the Luxury Supertall towers in Manhattan on May 16, 2022 in New York.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty images
Manhattan apartments sales jumped 29% in the first quarter of the same period a year ago, because the rich looked for refuge in volatile actions to buy real estate, according to new reports.
There were 2,560 sales closed during the quarter, against 1,988 a year ago, according to a report by the real estate assessor Miller Samuel and the Douglas Elliman brokerage. The total value of apartments in apartments has further increased, reaching $ 5.7 billion, up 56% compared to the same quarter of last year.
The force has been largely motivated by the high -end market and luxury properties. Apartment sales at the price of more than $ 5 million has soaked 49% compared to a year ago, according to Brokerage Compass. The ultra-elevated properties, or properties at a price of $ 20 million or more, have had its best first quarter since 2019, said Compass.
“Largely isolated by fluctuations in the mortgage rate and motivated by portfolio diversification strategies, this highlights renewed confidence among luxury buyers and highlights the wider generational wealth in progress,” said Compass.
Since ultra-rich tend to buy cash apartments, without the need for a mortgage, they were less dissuaded by continuously high interest rates. 58% of the quarter sales were all in cash, the most expensive apartments (more than $ 3 million) seeing 90% of buying buyers from all cases.
The lowest market segment was what brokers consider to be the “intermediate market” of Manhattan real estate, or properties at a price between $ 1 and $ 3 million. The contracts signed for these properties decreased by 10%, according to Compass, while properties at the lower end, cost between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million.
The brokers say that the renewed strength of Manhattan real estate is motivated by macro and micro-comments.
While the Manhattan real estate market has long been linked to the stock market, given the city’s dependence on the financial markets for jobs and wealth, sales of apartments have decounted from the volatile performance of shares in the first quarter. Brokers say that the uncertain perspectives for actions make real estate and hard working as attractive, especially in privileged wealth markets like Manhattan.
They also say that Big Banks’ back mandates and other companies bring rich buyers in the city more permanently. The emergence of “rich boomerang” – those who moved to spots like Florida during the pandemic and now return to New York – also stimulates sales.
“There is a notable movement of people returning from Florida and move from Los Angeles,” said real estate agent Charlie Attias of Compass.
The “large transfer of wealth” also stimulates sales. With thousands of dollars that are starting to pass baby-boomers to their children and loved ones, brokers say that an increasing number of buyers are the children of rich parents who buy with funds from a trust or family office.
“We note a notable increase in the activity of family offices, many of which acquire real estate as long -term inherited assets,” said Cindy Scholz real estate agent.
Admittedly, sales that closed in the first quarter were generally signed and negotiated months earlier, so the uncertainty of March around the markets and the economy is not reflected in the figures.
The first quarter of 2024 was unusually slow, which made the first quarter of 2025 in more attractive comparison, according to Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel. Despite the 29% increase in sales, the total sales was only 1.1% better than the historic average of the last decade, he said.
However, the contracts signed in March, who are a sales predictor in the coming quarters, were also strong, especially for luxury. According to Douglas Elliman, contracts signed at the price of apartments at the price of more than $ 10 million in March.
“It is clear that the Manhattan market is not only stable – it is flourishing,” said Pamela Liebman, president and chief executive officer of Corcoran.