Manhattan’s luxury sales market cooled in August as median prices dropped 2.7% year-over-year to $4.3 million and homes took longer to sell, according to a StreetEasy report Friday.
Luxury homes, defined as the top 20% most expensive sales, spent a median of 119 days on the market last month, a 10.7% increase, or 12 days longer, than in August 2016, according to StreetEasy.
The Upper West Side saw the largest loss in its median sales prices, falling 6.8% to $3.27 million in August.
Brooklyn’s luxury prices, on the other hand, rose 2.2% annually to $1.7 million, and those in Queens gained 3.5% to reach $1.03 million. As more buyers priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn sought higher-end properties in Queens, luxury homes took only 58 days to sell, a 7.9% decrease, or five days faster, than in August 2016.
"The glut of luxury housing in Manhattan and Brooklyn has been a key driver of the slower-moving markets in those areas, and we’re beginning to see the oversupply at the top of the market have a small effect on the prices of less expensive units," Grant Long, senior economist at StreetEasy, said in the report.
For the overall Manhattan market, median prices dipped 0.2% to $1,163,499 in August. It took 84 days for a listing to find a buyer, up two weeks compared to August 2016.
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Brooklyn’s overall median prices increased 3.7% to $753,571, with homes spending a median of 68 days on the market, up eight days from a year ago.
Median prices in Queens rose 7.4% year-over-year to $503,864, with homes selling six days faster than last year’s 59 days.
"New Yorkers are increasingly turning to Queens for the best deals, causing home prices and competition there to spike," Mr. Long said. "In August, we saw homes fly off the market in Queens—particularly the least expensive homes for sale in Queens."
Mr. Long predicts that the luxury market across the city will continue softening in the fall, while more affordable homes will sell faster, as housing options for those are still limited.