The home purchase agreements in Manhattan and Brooklyn were practically at a standstill in May, according to the appraiser Miller Samuel and the agencia Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The ban on home visits as a measure to fight the coronavirus pandemic, especially virulent in New York City, has paralyzed the residential market.
He New York State established serious measures of confinement and social distancing with the important outbreak of covid-19 that has been affecting New York City and its surroundings since April.
The agreements of sale of homes in cooperative in Manhattan fell 80% year-on-year, while for condos the decline was greater, up to 83%. In Brooklyn, the situation was somewhat better and while the firms to enter a cooperative yielded 76%, the business for the condominium apartments ‘barely’ fell by 44%
“The market is not working yet,” he said. Jonathan Miller, President of Appraiser Miller Samuel. “People, in general, are not deciding to buy despite having virtual tours.”
Of the few contracts closed, according to Miller, most buyers were able to view the property before the lockdown or added to the clauses of the contract to be able to see the house once the restrictions are relaxed.
For example, only six sales were signed in May real estate over five million dollarscompared to 52 in May 2019. With so few contracts, there is not enough price data to draw conclusions about where the market is going, experts say.
“With the current market conditions, the idea is that prices are now weaker than they were during the pre-covid period,” Miller said. “But until the market reopens, we will not discover the real price of the house.”
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