|
It's the Sellers...
not the Buyers
| | |
Here are the takeaways from the following:
- It’s a mixed bag as usual.
- Supply driven market, as in there is a lack there of.
- 7% rates keep more sellers in place, meaning fewer choices for buyers.
- Demand for these choices will intensify.
- This upward pressure on prices could be tempered by 7% rates.
- That said, 65% of our deals are cash, so perhaps not.
We’ve had the first Fed rate hike since 2023 and most buyers have the same instinct: wait. Wait for rates to come down. Wait for sentiment (the “headlines), to improve. Wait for the market to feel safer. It’s understandable…but in real estate, the moment everyone is waiting can be THE moment the most interesting opportunities begin to surface. So if you’re inclined to buy, you should keep your sleeves rolled.
Here is the part that gets lost in the noise: traditional thinking tells us that when rates go up, buyers understandably step back…true. But right now, it’s the sellers who are stepping back. The real pressure point right now is not demand…it’s supply. A lot of owners are sitting on mortgages near 3%; so moving today could double their monthly housing costs. As a result, they’re not rushing to sell, even if they’ve outgrown their home, want a different neighborhood, or had once planned to trade up. For buyers that leaves less inventory, fewer truly compelling choices and yet, continued competition for the properties that check all the right boxes.
| | 57% of Inventory Stale – Target 90+ Day Listings for Best Deals 2,881 listings (57%) have sat 90+ days while 1,002 fresh units just hit. Stale inventory signals motivated sellers open to negotiation – target these for pricing flexibility while also monitoring the wave of new fall listings for well-priced entries. | | Chart courtesy: UrbanDigs | | |
For sellers who do engage, it’s a two-sided coin: yes the scarcity helps your cause, in that you have fewer properties on the market to compete with; however, open houses get quieter, bidding wars become less automatic, and sellers who expected a line around the block may suddenly be open to real conversations. That second part is a plus for buyers. Although not every seller will adjust and not every listing is an opportunity, fewer active buyers create leverage that simply does not exist when everyone’s chasing the same property.
Seven-percent mortgage rates sound alarming…specifically in relative comparison to the artificially low rates of 2020 and 2021. But as always, in Manhattan the story is more complicated than elsewhere; cash is still king, especially in luxury. Nearly 65% of our deals here are all cash; if you consider those properties over $4M that percentage goes up to 90%. So as you can see, buyers at the upper end are not making a decision based on a rate sheet; they’re buying a rare home, in a specific building, on a particular block, because they know that it may not come back to market for years. That’s typically why the luxury condo market remains resilient even while the ‘headlines” insist that higher rates should bring everything to a stand-still.
That’s why the best buyers are not necessarily waiting for a “perfect” market. They are watching closely for the moments when uncertainty gives them room to negotiate, when a seller becomes realistic, or when a great property appears with less competition than it would have had a year ago. Rates can change…and mortgages can be refinanced…but you cannot go back and buy a remarkable Manhattan property at yesterday’s price once confidence returns.
| | Anyone interested in buying or selling, should be rolling up their sleeves to determine whether the time is right to sell or if there's a home/investment property out there for them. Who represents you matters…your best investment is often in the broker you choose; find someone with experience, who you feel you can trust. | | Directly across from Central Park's southern tip, in the heart of the most unique and vibrant part of the city is 106 Central Park South. It's at the cross roads of luxury and the finest urban nature you'll find on this planet. In close proximity to world class restaurants, clubs, shopping and recreation of your choosing is this extraordinary opportunity to create the private home you have always imagined when you think about living in Manhattan. Within, we find two adjacent homes, residences 11A & 11B, collectively comprising approximately 3,500 square feet of living space with 50 feet of frontage overlooking Central Park. From sunrise to sunset and from one season to the next your views become an ever-evolving work of art, the light glows into your home. This offering combines residences into a single, remarkable opportunity: own two side-by-side homes on Central Park South or create a sprawling, customized combination residence with 4 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms and 2 powder rooms....Click here to see the video and more. | | One of the select-few truly exclusive and distinguished boutique cooperatives on all of Park Avenue..."all limestone, with double sets of Florentine-style windows and with only one five-bedroom apartment per floor"...nearly 70 feet of frontage facing Park Avenue...extraordinary volume...10’ ceilings…innumerable, large outward facing windows...four exposures...views and streams of sun and light throughout...private elevator landing and 375 sqft entry gallery, perfect for art...SE facing living room...oversized dining room...south facing library...an unusual and seductive corridor, 7 feet wide and nearly 48 feet long, perfect for art…commodious primary bedroom suite...and what was once described as a home with “six servants’ rooms, including a separate section for the butler and the second man” is now is currently 15 rooms, inclusive of 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and two staff rooms...unparalleled location, in close proximity to world class restaurants, shopping, entertainment, art and culture, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection, Lincoln Center…this list goes on...Click here to see the video and more. | | * MANHATTAN MARKET NEWS * | | |
The Hamptons wrapped up summer with sturdy pricing, although buyers were clearly selective. We saw fewer deals as a result. Homes that did sell tended to be in the higher price points, lifting both average pricing and total dollar volume. The message was fairly clear: beautifully presented, "turnkey" properties continued to attract serious attention and urgency, while more typical homes and those priced a bit too ambitiously...needed a sharper strategy and a little more patience.
Looking ahead, Fall should still bring healthy activity, though the pace will likely be more negotiation-driven than it was during the summer rush. Early September saw more new listings come to market than contracts signed, giving well-qualified buyers a bit more choice, particularly among properties that have lingered or missed their ideal summer moment.
That said, this is not a major shift toward oversupply. Inventory has edged up, but it remains well below the longer-term, pre-covid level. The long and short of it is that buyers may have a little more room to shop around, but standout homes are still very much in demand.
The Full Hamptons Q2 Report
| | * WHAT REPRESENTATION LOOKS LIKE * | | |
Click on each respective image to watch the video.
| | Above charts courtesy: Mortgage News Daily | | * MOST RECENT MARKET REPORTS * | | It was an honor to have been invited to and participate on a panel at this years SIMED conference in Malaga, Spain. We discussed the global future of luxury...the trends and the must-have experiences demanded by the ever-growing international buyer population. Centrally located on the global map with an average of 300 days of sun annually, there are many extraordinary opportunities in this region of Andalucia, which include Marbella and Estepona. Reach out to me if you would like to learn more; we can discuss your interests, goals and specific needs. Click here to see an impressive presentation on Malaga City's growth. | | The countdown to Roy Lichtenstein: Like New begins! Bold, colorful, and instantly recognizable, Roy Lichtenstein’s art transformed everyday imagery into cultural icons. Like New invites you to experience more than 130 works across painting, sculpture, prints, film, and large-scale murals while discovering the ideas behind one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists. Opens October 11. Learn more. | | Let's Compare Lists: Eater vs. Resy | |
The Hottest Restaurants
Open Right Now
| | |
Eater's Heat Map (click below) - Some of the Hottest Restaurants open right now. This list will be updated monthly.
Eater editors get asked one question more than any other: Where should I eat right now? Here, we’ve put together a map of the latest Manhattan debuts drawing NYC’s dining obsessives.
New to the list in September We’ve added British Indian chophouse Elder in Hudson Yards; Cospa Ramen in Flatiron; the American debut of Mexico City taqueria El Califa de León; the return of seafood spot Mary’s Fish Camp in the West Village; and a fun contemporary Thai restaurant, Hommali, in the West Village. And, for now, we swapped out Oyatte, Kidilum, Capitaine, Sono, Baohaus, and Piccolo Morini.
For more New York dining recommendations, check out the new hotspots in Brooklyn and Queens.
| |
Hit List: Where In New York You’ll Want to Eat Right Now
| | Linguine al ragù with mustard kimchi. - Photo by Janice Chung, courtesy of Somssi. | | |
New to the Hit List (September 2026):
New to The Hit List on Resy
Be Entertained: There’s something to be said about a live performance accompanying your meal, and this month offers plenty of opportunities to do just that. On Sept. 10, a glamorous mix of burlesque performers will convene at So & So’s in Hell’s Kitchen in collaboration with Tansy’s Polite Society. That same night across town in Midtown East, Wildcard Bar is hosting live music from soul musician Donnie Smith. On Sundays and Wednesdays all month long, Gogyo Gramercy is hosting live jazz nights. If you really want to get involved in your dinner performance, head to Jones Wood Foundry on Sept. 21 when they host “Shakesport,” an interactive dinner theater program featuring works from the famed English bard. On Sept. 25, La Goulue hosts Alex Donner and his four-piece orchestra for an evening of music, and check out Grammy-recognized jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and arranger Danny Jonokuchi at Baretto at Fasano on Sept. 26.
For the full list...keep reading here.
|
|
ARE RESTAURANTS SPYING ON YOU?
Is it a restaurant
. . . or is it the CIA?
The show Cheers got it right: we all like to go where everybody knows our name. But how much more do we want our favorite restaurant to know about us? Read Article.
_______________________________________
| | |
Cookbook Author, Culinary Journalist and Food Humorist©, Rob is a Manhattan born man-about- town who writes, produces and hosts programs about food. I highly recommend his new book for Dads like myself. There is a new kind of dad, and he's doing far more domestic duty than at any time in history, including cooking. Although it's written with a sense of humor, this book is a serious resource for dads and anyone else interested in upping their game to make great tasting foo d bat home, even if they have never used a chef's knife or a roasting pan before.
Order: Short Order Dad ...A Great Gift for Dad!
| |
Rob is also on iHeart Radio & SPOTIFY with his ALL YOU CAN EAT podcast about delicious food, cooking and luxury travel.
| | |
PRIVATE ONLINE COOKING CLASSES:
Ask Rob about his privates…by which he means that he offers customized cooking lessons to individuals and to groups. You learn, you laugh, and you eat well.
Now that ALL of us need to pitch in when it comes to feeding the family, I suggest picking up some serious tips from Rob. As he says, he went to cooking school so you don't have to. These sessions are fun and literally provide prized skills for upping your game. Enjoy. See Rob's intro here.
|
| |
With Partnering Worldwide, Brown Harris Stevens continues to leverage
its very productive relationships with top brokerages nationally and
internationally by inviting partners to high-light key properties in their
respective markets on BrownHarrisStevens.com, and to feature
our important properties on their sites.
Learn more.
| | |
Brown Harris Stevens
1934 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
917-701 3907
| | | Disclaimer: The opinions and content in this newsletter are assembled solely by Roberto Cabrera (a licensed real estate broker in New York State) for informational purposes only and and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. No financial or legal advice provided. No statement is made as to the accuracy of any description or measurements (including square footage). This is not intended to solicit property already listed. All Coming Soon listings in NYC are simultaneously syndicated to the REBNY RLS. Equal Housing Opportunity. Everyone has unique circumstances and should consult the their own respective professionals. |
| | | |
