Brooklyn Real Estate Market Moves Sideways, Third-Quarter Reports Say

Call the Brooklyn real estate market sclerotic, but it’s neither crashing nor booming, according to third-quarter reports out today. In fact, the numbers mimic the market before Covid, although conditions have changed.

Rising interest rates and a resultant lack of inventory caused the number of sales to plummet compared with 2022’s go-go figures. A report by real estate firm Corcoran found a silver lining in the numbers, noting volume was on par with pre-Covid conditions.

“Brooklyn sellers are hesitant to forgo their low rates, and buyers are reluctant to close a deal,” said Corcoran SVP, General Sales Manager Michael Sorrentino in a prepared statement. As well, “strong new-development sales at the high end” helped push up average prices and price per square foot, according to the press release.

The number of sales and inventory in the quarter fell significantly. There were 2,592 homes for sale in Brooklyn during the third quarter, a dive of 17.5 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a report by Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. The number of sales was 2,632, a plunge of 25.7 percent vs. the same time last year.

Across the board, prices for all types of residential properties sold in the quarter in Brooklyn flatlined. The average sales price rang in at $1,222,627, a .1 percent dip over last year. The median sales price clocked in at $950,000, down .9 percent compared with the third quarter of 2022, according to Douglas Elliman.

Looking at sale prices by property type, condo prices — especially in new developments — rose, while prices of co-ops and one- to three-family houses fell. The average sale price for new-development condos was $1,431,027, a leap of 18.6 percent vs. the same time last year. The average sale price for resale condos hit $1,234,905, up 3.6 percent from 2022’s third quarter. Meanwhile, co-ops were off 8 percent vs. the prior year, weighing in at an average sale price of $686,609. One- to three-family houses in the borough traded at an average price of $1,419,161, down 6.4 percent from last year’s numbers, said the Elliman report.

Average price per square foot — a more reliable metric but not available for co-ops — reinforced these trends. Average price per square foot for all condos (new and resale) jumped 14.9 percent to $1,189 in the quarter vs. the prior year. Average price per square foot for one- to three-family houses hit $635, a decrease of 15.3 percent compared with the third quarter of 2022, Douglas Elliman said.

Numbers were similar across the region, even in the brownstone-heavy northwest, where the average price per square foot for one- to three-family houses fell 19.3 percent in the year period to $1,292, according to the same report.

“Housing markets around the country remain challenged by the highest mortgage rates in over 20 years, a situation unlikely to change soon,” said Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman in the firm’s market report. However, the demand for Brooklyn apartments remains strong, as evidenced by the stability of prices over the past year.”