email May 12 - Body

Since Governor Cuomo’s announcement earlier this month that New York City would reopen for business on May 19, people are not only taking note, but also taking action. Whether it’s locals planning their move back to the city or families scheduling their vacations to the Big Apple, NYC will soon begin to look more like it did pre-Covid. With restaurants, shops and Broadway opening back up along with 24-hour subway service reinstated, Cuomo is looking to accelerate New York’s recovery by luring back workers and tourists.

So what does this mean for real estate? Based on what we’re now seeing in the rental market (which was hit very hard), we should expect market activity to remain vigorously high as people clamor to return to the city. Since the reopening announcement, there has been a surge in rental demand according to landlords and brokers. Everyone is eager to be back in New York now that restrictions have loosened and businesses are open—and they’re wasting no time. There is concern about demand outstripping inventory and “2-3 month free rent concessions” going away, so this has prompted a flurry of activity unlike ever before.

In terms of the residential sales market, we’ve seen consistently good numbers across the board since the start of the year, as I’ve been reporting to you all along for the past four months. In fact, it was just reported that the number of Manhattan luxury home deals in the past four months has surpassed the total number of deals in all of 2020. And as I previously shared, the upswing in activity is happening across all segments of the market—not just luxury.

At some point things will most likely level off, but for now, in the words of Frank Sinatra, ”I want to be a part of it. New York, New York” could never hold more true for so many ... and the market data backs it up.

Please reach out if you’ve been considering moving or exploring the idea now that New York is on the road to a return to normalcy.