It has now been over two months since COVID-19 put the New York City real estate market on hold. Our April market numbers reflect how buyers and sellers have reacted during the pandemic, whether because of fears and uncertainty, or because they have not been able to show and see homes in person.
The April real estate market is nothing like the usual real estate market for this time of year. We’ve seen a 91% year over year decrease in number of new listings, an 82% decrease in contracts signed, and a 60% decrease in closed sales. Price per square foot is holding steady, and we don’t see a significant increase in price drops for the properties that are on the market.
April’s Brooklyn market showed a remarkable shift in buyer and seller behavior due to COVID-19. Comparing April 2020 with the prior year and month, the most significant changes we see are in number of new listings, down 88% year over year, and number of signed contracts, down 77% year over year. The rate at which the city reopens will in part determine how the market changes over the next few months.
The good news for Queens real estate is that April showed us year over year gains of 19% for average price per square foot, 9% for median list price, and 8% for number of sales. The COVID-19 impact has been in the decreased number of new listings and contracts signed year over year: 88% and 73% respectively.
Figures in this report are based on publicly reported data from Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) as well as proprietary data.
