While much of New York City saw an increase in homes entering contract from May 2023 to May 2024, Queens was an exception to this trend, according to a report by the real estate listing site StreetEasy. When a home is ‘in contract’, it means an offer to buy the home is accepted by the seller and a purchase and sale agreement is signed with the buyer.
The number of homes in Queens to enter contract decreased 2.3% year-over-year, from 1,874 in 2023 to 1,831 in 2024. This decline was heavily impacted by slower condo sales in Long Island City, dropping 33.5%, from 206 in 2023 to 137 in 2024. While both Astoria and Flushing experienced slight increases in homes entering contract, it was not enough to counteract the heavy drop in Long Island City.
Conversely, the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn both saw increases in home entering contracts compared to the previous year. Manhattan saw a 2.6% jump, from 4,697 in 2023 to 4,819 in 2024. In Brooklyn, there was a 0.6% rise year-over-year, from 2,896 in 2023 to 2,913 in 2024.
Queens ended up having a notable increase in the median asking price year-over-year. The asking price in the borough rose 4.5%, from $650,000 last year to $679,000 this year. Only Brooklyn and the Bronx had higher percentage changes year-over-year in the median asking price.
In Brooklyn, there was a 12.5% increase, from $1 million last year to $1.125 million this year. Despite the fact that the percentage change of the median asking price in the Bronx, at 11.1%, more than doubled that of Queens, the asking price there is significantly less than in Queens. Year-over-year, the median asking price in the Bronx went up from $350,000 to $389,000.
In New York City as a whole, the new for-sale listing trends indicate sellers adjusting to elevated mortgage rates. Year-over-year, these listings increased 1.4%, from 17,615 in May 2023 to 17,826 in May 2024. This represents the first annual increase in homes entering the market in New York City since 2022.
The change in homes to enter contracts in New York City over this same period of time has followed a similar trend. There was a 1.2% jump in homes entering contract, from 10,033 last year to 10,153 this year. This, too, was the first annual increase since 2022.
Despite the rise in homes entering contracts across the city, there is still a limited overall inventory. As a result, more people are competing for the same well-priced homes, causing more homes to be sold for more than the initial asking price. Through May 2024, 15.4% of homes sold were done so over the initial asking price, jumping up from 14.2% in 2023.
