Manhattan’s ultra-rich found better things to do last week than sign on the dotted line.
Just nine homes in the borough asking $4 million or more snagged inked deals last week, per Olshan Realty’s report. The drop in contracts mirrored a similar slump in South Florida, with Miami-Dade County logging just 12 pending deals.
The drop could mean luxury buyers are just out on summer vacation or it could be the first inkling of a glacial third quarter — typically the residential market’s slowest period.
But the number of signed contracts could also be undercounted, as the total may not include homes marketed as private exclusives or deals inked off-market at new development properties such as 80 Clarkson.
The jury’s still out on how the rest of August will fare, but contract activity in Manhattan was off to a strong start ahead of the month. In July, the number of pending deals for condos, co-ops and one- to three-family homes asking $4 million or more rose to 91, up more than 12 percent compared to the same month last year, according to Miller Samuel’s monthly report.
The uptick in signed contracts will likely translate to closed deals in the third quarter, but luxury activity outpaced new listings hitting the market during the month. Without enough inventory for buyers to scoop up, a deal slowdown could be on the horizon.
New listings for homes asking $4 million or more fell 13 percent last month, dropping from 129 to 112.
The Upper East Side notched the largest number of recorded transactions in July, with 193 deals, according to data from Streeteasy. The deals came after an active June in the neighborhood’s luxury market, which saw 36 contracts inked, up 16 percent from the same month last year.
Not so fast…
Residential brokerages closed out the second quarter earnings season with mixed results.
Three of the sector’s largest firms found different footing as macroeconomic conditions, including persistently high mortgage rates and uncertainty sparked by tariffs, slowed the housing market.
Compass finished the period in the black, reporting more than $39 million in net income — a 90 percent year-over-year increase compared to the same quarter last year, according to its earnings report. The company also logged record quarterly revenue at more than $2 billion, a 21 percent annual uptick.
While Compass posted gains, Anywhere Real Estate held the line. The parent company of brands such as Corcoran, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s International reported a net income of $27 million, just $3 million less than it earned in the same period in 2024. Its revenue was $1.7 billion, up 1 percent from the second quarter last year.
But Douglas Elliman’s earnings took a turn for the worst. The firm posted a $23 million loss — $21 million more than it lost in the second quarter last year — and reversed months of revenue gains, bringing in $270 million compared to $285 million in 2024. The period was a departure from the upward trajectory Elliman started on in the first quarter.
NYC Deal of the Week
The priciest sale to land in the city register this week was a three-bedroom resale at Extell Development and Aabar Investment’s 157 West 57th Street. Unit 66B at the Billionaires’ Row tower, known as One57, traded for $24 million — $2 million below its asking price when it hit the market in April. The 4,200-square-foot condo sold for $19 million in 2021.
Michael Balanevsky and Artur Fruman of Accent Holdings had the listing.
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