Dear Clients and Friends,

The monthly number of signed contracts and new listings both declined in November 2025 versus October (with both figures hovering slightly below November 2024’s levels).   

While the aggregate NYC market was marginally down, the luxury segment had an uptick in demand.  November 2025 notched 151 signed contracts for properties $4M+, surpassing October 2025’s 115 and November 2024’s 124.  Approximately 50% of late November’s $4M+ contracts were for new development homes, and it will be interesting to see how this mix, and buyer preferences, evolve as there are fewer (though not no), large-scale new construction projects slated to list over the next 12-24 months.  

November 2025’s luxury demand numbers do not show any exodus of NYC’s affluent residents post Mamdani’s election.  For now, there also seems to be less friction between the mayor-elect and President, with Trump stating of Mamdani in a November meeting “He wants to see no crime, he wants to see housing being built, he wants to see rents coming down.  All things I agree with.” Of course, temperatures and rhetoric can change. 

NYC has continued to showcase consistent and growing global demand for its luxury residential product, although over the last ~10 years price appreciation has been relatively flat compared to swings in some of the Sunbelt States and elsewhere.  This underscores NYC’s position as a more mature ‘blue-chip’ market anchored by its enduring unique lifestyle offering versus a speculator/flipper’s heaven.  

Lastly, as we assess NYC’s current and future residential landscape, it’s worth noting that recent reporting places Manhattan as the top destination nationally for office to residential conversions.  Manhattan has approximately 11,000 units being converted to residential apartment use, ~9,000 of which are former office spaces.  About half of these conversions are in Midtown -- which we view as positive for addressing NYC’s residential supply shortage while simultaneously creating a more 24-hour lifestyle pedestrian landscape in neighborhoods that currently feel a bit ‘one-note’.  On the flip side, we are also seeing ‘starchitect’ new construction for top-tier office space.  In addition to JP Morgan Chase’s just completed global headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, there are at least 4 trophy commercial projects underway that deserve mentioning: i) The Citadel Tower at 350 Park Avenue; ii) Related’s Building of 70 Hudson Yards for Deloitte; iii) Boston Properties (a.k.a. ‘BXP’s) 343 Madison Avenue; and iv) Extell’s project at 570 Fifth Avenue where Ikea will have its global flagship and law firm Simpson Thatcher is negotiating to be a potential anchor tenant.