Price chops, a fixture of the Manhattan luxury residential market for over a year now, may be starting to slow down.
Sellers cut the ask on 33 percent of Manhattan apartments and townhouses in the third quarter of the year, down from 44 percent the second quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from StreetEasy. Price reductions also slowed in Brooklyn, with 25 percent of homes reduced in the third quarter, down from 35 percent in the second quarter, according to the publication.
Brokers said that the reduction in prices may represent a recalibration of the market. Sellers have become more realistic in recent months, and are increasingly likely to negotiate with buyers. As a result, many overpriced listings have been pulled from the market. Manhattan resale inventory dropped for the first time in three years in the second quarter of the year, according to Douglas Elliman’s quarterly report.
“There was a lot of price cutting and a lot of selling, a lot of the product that was sitting around got sold,” Gregory Heym, the chief economist for Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property, told the Journal. “Now we have gotten back to a market that is slower. The frenzied pace isn’t what it was earlier in the year.” [WSJ] — Miriam Hall