Between July and September this year, Queens, as well as Manhattan and Brooklyn, saw a record high number of sale contracts signed.
In a new report, StreetEasy lists the 10 areas that represent the top markets for home sellers in New York City right now, with the Rockaways breaching the Brooklyn-dominated list.
The Top 10 Sellers’ Markets list reveals where home sellers have unusually high negotiating power. Coming in at number eight on the list, the Rockaways is the only one of the top sellers’ markets not in Brooklyn.
According to the report, the pandemic may be a major factor in the rise of this Queens region. As working from home became more common, commute times became less of a factor for some New Yorkers, who can now choose to skip the long subway or ferry ride to Midtown for a home office right on the beach.
Along with a 149% increase in messages between 2019 and 2021, the Rockaways also only saw 2.3% of homes receive a price cut in the past six months. The lack of price cuts is an indicator that sellers are pricing correctly, and buyers are willing to pay the asking price, or close to it.
The Rockaways was one of the four on the list that had a median sale to list ratio of 100% in the past six months, meaning the average seller got exactly what they asked for.
Given this was the median, the report says it’s likely many buyers are experiencing bidding wars in these areas. This is great news for sellers, who might have a better chance of finding a buyer willing to pay close to, or even above, the initial asking price, with little room to negotiate between listing and closing.
It also means less time on the market overall. The median number of days on market is below 60 days in all 10 top seller’s markets, compared to 72 days citywide. In the Rockaways, homes spent a median of 58 days on the market.
This fall, buyers looking to purchase homes in a neighborhood on the Top Sellers’ Market list should be prepared for heightened competition and should expect to pay very close to, or even above, the list price for homes in these 10 neighborhoods.
But this doesn’t mean it’s all bad for buyers. While for-sale inventory is still coming down from the highs seen during the pandemic, Queens inventory was right on par for what is typically seen during the July and September period.
