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Manhattan real estate prices are in a standoff. With the tax reform package making owning property in high tax areas less desirable, buyers are looking for lower prices on New York real estate. Sellers don’t believe the tax changes should have a large effect, and aren’t moving their prices lower. Stagnation has ensued. Josh Barbanel writes:
The number of contracts signed from October through January was down 6% from the same four-month period beginning in October 2016, according to figures from brokerage Brown Harris Steven. That was the slowest pace of activity during those months since a broad recovery in the Manhattan market began in 2012.
“It used to be location, location, location,” said Jonathan Miller, an appraiser and market analyst. “Now it is uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty.”
Making matters worse, last year’s sales were already weak. Brokers and market analysts blamed uncertainty over the presidential election for the lackluster activity in late 2016 and early 2017.
For all of 2017, sales were nearly flat compared with 2016, up 0.6%. Together, the years ranked as the two worst for sales volumes since 2011.
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