From the Upper East Side to East New York, would-be homebuyers are facing a massive inventory crunch this spring.
Add to that rapidly rising prices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, limited new development geared to the luxury market, and underwater homes hampering many locals’ ability to sell, and it all equals a tough market for many New Yorkers.
“Supply is not adequate to demand,” said real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel.
Wall Streeters fresh from their highest level of bonuses since the financial crisis can pony up for swanky amenities like private heated swimming pools. Such extras have pushed first-quarter average prices per square foot for Manhattan apartments to a 25-year record high, and new development prices to a record $1,834, according to the Elliman Report. Brooklyn’s average sales price rose 7.3 percent, to $681,182, with new development prices up 3.5 percent, to $732 per square foot.
Inventory in Manhattan and Brooklyn fell to a six-year low in the first quarter, according to data from StreetEasy and Elliman.
The financial crisis killed new construction in NYC, but now stalled new development projects are bustling back to life.
After three years of essentially no new inventory, a few luxury Manhattan condos can’t ease the crunch. Most new development in Brooklyn, meanwhile, consists of luxury rentals.
That leaves many low- and middle-income New Yorkers priced out and pushed out of much of Manhattan, as well as hot areas of Brooklyn and Queens directly across the East River. StreetEasy’s recent list of up-and-coming neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn shows that New Yorkers are moving farther north, to areas like East Harlem, and east to neighborhoods like East New York.
After a few tough years, inventory is scarce at East New York’s MeadowWood at Gateway condo complex. MeadowWood is geared to locals but has started attracting buyers from other boroughs, said Daniel McInerney, vice president at sponsor Taconic Investment Partners.
The foreclosure crisis continues to cast a shadow over the market, too. Total filings rose 29 percent in the first quarter, spiking more than 40 percent in Brooklyn and Staten Island, according to data from NYU’s Furman Center.