It was not an overall strong first quarter of 2018 when it came to residential sales in New York City, according to the latest report by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).

According to the report, the residential market experienced a 16 percent decline in citywide consideration (that is, monetary value for completed transactions), from $12.3 billion in the first quarter of 2017 to $10.3 billion in the first quarter of 2018-- a loss of about $2 billion. This marked “the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines in New York City's total residential sales consideration" for the first time since the third quarter of 2009.  

The report also stated that citywide home sales volume declined 10 percent to 10,869 in 2018's first quarter, and added that the number of home sales dropped in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island. By comparison, the Bronx saw a boost in home sales in the recent first quarter this year by 8 percent. 

In explaining the downward trends, John H. Banks, President of REBNY, said in a news statement: “The declines in consideration and transactions are largely attributable to a slowdown in sales activity at the high end of the Manhattan market. Demand has remained strong in other important market segments as demonstrated by several new average sales price records set for cooperative units and one-to-three-family dwellings throughout the boroughs”

Overall for New York City co-ops, the average sales price was $791,000 in the first quarter of 2018, a 11 percent jump from the same period last year. Average sales prices for co-ops in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens rose by 11 percent ($1,308,000), 14 percent ($531,000), and 13 percent ($310,000) respectively. (Both Manhattan and Queens set record highs for those performances, said REBNY).

In contrast, the average sales price for a condo in the Big Apple fell 20 percent to $1,566,000 in first quarter 2018 year-over year. In Manhattan, the average sales price for a condo was $2,508,000, a decline of 14 percent; Brooklyn's average condo sales price dipped by 5 percent to $1,083,000; while in Queens, the average price for that apartment type rose by 16 percent to $698,000 from the same quarter a year ago.

The report described residential sales activity by neighborhood. For instance, the average sales price of a condo in Williamsburg fell 1 percent in 2018's first quarter to $1,189,000 year-over-year,  along with a decline of condo sales to 112. Co-ops on the Upper East Side saw an increase in average sales price by 11 percent to $1,662,000, even as sales fell 9 percent to 365. And in Flushing, the average sales price for a condo was $865,000, an uptick of 22 percent compared to the first quarter of 2017, though it experienced a dip in the amount of condo sales by 19 percent to 123.

To read the complete report, click here.  

David Chiu is an associate editor at The Cooperator.