Market Reports

Miller Samuel prepares a series of real estate market reports covering the New York region. Additional market areas are currently under development. Over the past year these reports had a distribution in both print and internet download of more than 1,000,000 copies. Each of these reports are available for download as Adobe Acrobat © PDF files below.

Much of the data for the New York regional report series is available via an aggregate data search engine that generates custom tables. The reports are prepared using the following methodology.

• Miller Samuel Market Report Innovations
• First to analyze the entire borough of Manhattan
• First to track Manhattan co-ops by price per square foot
• First to analyze Manhattan square footage of all sales
• First to analyze the Manhattan market by median sales price
• First to break out the Manhattan market by bedrooms (Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4+)
• First to analyze Manhattan market-wide apartment inventory
• First provide a 10-year analysis on Manhattan co-op/condo market
• First provide a 10-year analysis on Manhattan townhouse market
• First to analyze Manhattan days on market and absorption
• First to drop Manhattan price per room as an obsolete market indicator
• First to break out Manhattan sales by specific neighborhoods
• First to analyze the Manhattan uptown co-op and condo market
• First to analyze the Manhattan co-op and condo market by zip code
• First to analyze Manhattan new development and re-sale trends
• First to break out the Long Island, Queens & East End markets by quintiles
• First to analyze the entire borough of Brooklyn
• First to analyze the entire borough of Queens
• First to analyze Brooklyn new development trends
• First to analyze Queens new development trends
• First to analyze Long Island by region (ie, North Shore, South Shore, etc.
• First provide a 10-year analysis on The Hamptons/North Fork market

These market studies may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part, except with proper credit as to their authorship.

Manhattan Market Overview 2Q 2009 [PDF] Archives

A quarterly survey of Manhattan co-op and condo sales.

...The Manhattan market, as measured by the median sales price of re-sale apartments, fell 25.6% as compared to the same period last year. The overall number of sales were 50.3% below the same period last year as a result of the tightening of credit, rising unemployment and a recessionary economy. There was an uptick in the number of sales late in the quarter due to both seasonality and a release of some pent-up demand from the limited sales activity at the beginning of the year. More sellers adjusted to the market price correction of the fall as evidenced by the decline in listing discount to 7.8% from 12.4% in the prior quarter. Buyers took advantage of mortgage rates at historic lows and price declines were less pronounced at the lower end of the market where credit terms are less restrictive. Market share of new development unit sales fell to 27% of all sales, their lowest level in 18 months and tend to lag market conditions by more than a year. As a result, the influence of new development sales activity in skewing the overall market data was less pronounced in the current quarter than in the prior several years...

Brooklyn Market Overview 1Q 2009 [PDF] Archives

A quarterly survey of Brooklyn residential sales.

...Unlike its Manhattan counterpart, the decline in price indicators in Brooklyn, specifically the resale median sales price, showed a more modest decline. The median sales price in Brooklyn this quarter for re-sale properties was $469,000, down 10.7% from $525,000 during the same period last year. Although new development sales tend to reflect the market of more than a year ago, they saw a similar decline in median sales price, down 10.9% to $498,937 from $560,112 in the prior year quarter. The decline in new development price trends was due to a shift in the mix to smaller units that happen to close during the first quarter. Market share of new development closings was 15.2% in the first quarter and was nearly unchanged from the 16.7% market share in the same period last year. The overall median sales price of a Brooklyn residential property was $474,600, down 12.1% from the market peak of $540,000 in the third quarter of 2007. The overall housing market in Brooklyn began to see price declines more than a year ahead of Manhattan, perhaps explaining why there was not a more significant price correction this quarter after the contraction in credit occurred last fall...

Queens Market Overview 1Q 2009 [PDF] Archives

A quarterly survey of Queens residential sales.

...Although the number of properties available for sale declined 7% to 10,421 from 11,206 listings in the same period last year, inventory expanded 6.1% from the prior quarter total of 9,822. The rise in inventory levels from the prior quarter was the result of the sharp decline in the number of sales over the same period. There were 1,801 sales in the first quarter, down 52.2% from 3,771 sales in the same period last year and down 34.2% from 2,737 sales in the prior quarter. The number of sales tends to decline from the fourth quarter to the first quarter of any given year, however, the decline during this period of the year was more than twice the five year average of 12.6% and outside of the five year range of -9.3% to -16.4%. The weakening regional economy and credit crunch as restricted the level of sales activity in the Queens housing market. Sellers continue to price property "behind" the market. As a result, the absorption rate - the number of months it would take to sell off existing inventory at the current pace of sales - has more than doubled over the past year. The absorption rate was 17.4 months in the first quarter, up from 8.9 months in the same period last year, both well above the 6.8 monthly average of the past five years...

Long Island Market Overview 1Q 2009 [PDF] Archives

A quarterly survey of Long Island residential sales.

...After peaking at 26,145 units in the second quarter of 2008, the number of listings has generally trended lower. There were 22,942 listings at the end of the first quarter, down 4.4% from 24,003 units in the same period last year. Listing inventory did rise 10.7% from the prior quarter, but this was a seasonal increase and lower than in four of the past five years during the same period. Inventory levels have been stabilizing over the past two years, however, the level of sales activity has been declining over the same period. There were 2,872 sales in the first quarter, 18.2% below the 3,513 sales of the same period a year ago. As a result, the monthly absorption - the number of months it would take to sell all existing inventory at the current pace of sales - was 24 months, up from 20.5 months in the same period last year...

Hamptons/North Fork Market Overview 1Q 2009 [PDF] Archives

A quarterly survey of residential sales in the Hamptons and the North Fork.

...There were 201 sales in the first quarter, down 49.8% from 400 sales in the same period last year and 72.9% from the same period five years ago, which had 742 sales. The number of sales dropped 44.6% from the prior quarter, which had a total of 363 sales. The slow down in activity is attributable to the credit crunch, employment and compensation concerns on Wall Street and recessionary economic conditions. As a result of the decline in the number of sales listing inventory expanded. There were 2,289 properties available for sale at the end of the first quarter, up 23.9% from 1,848 properties during the same period last year. The combination of rising inventory and declining sales resulted in a jump in the monthly absorption rate - the number of months to sell all existing inventory at the current pace of sales - to 34.2 months, from 13.9 months in the prior year quarter and up from 17.2 months in the prior quarter...

Manhattan Market Report 1999-2008 [PDF] Archives

Approximately 94,000 co-op and condo sales transactions from more than 6,400 buildings over the last ten years were analyzed. Each of the 53 different market areas was analyzed with data tables and charts as well as a summary matrix with prior year and prior decade comparisons.

...Despite weakening market conditions in the second half of 2008, all three price indicators trended higher this year, each setting records. The average sales price for a Manhattan apartment was $1,591,823 this year, up 17.8% from the $1,351,621 average sales price record set in 2007. The increase was skewed by the surge in higher priced sales, especially from new development activity. This year also marks the twelfth consecutive annual increase in the metric over the previous year beginning with the $399,501 average sales price in 1996. Median sales price exceeded the $900,000 threshold for the first time, rising 11% to a record $955,000 from a record $860,000 in 2007. Median sales price has risen for 13 consecutive years beginning in 1995 when this metric was $207,500. Price per square foot was a record $1,251 per square foot, 11.7% higher than the record $1,120 per square foot in 2007 and the third consecutive year this metric has remained above the $1,000 per square foot threshold. Price per square foot has increased over the prior year for the past twelve years...

Manhattan Townhouse Report 1999-2008 [PDF] Archives

Approximately 2,500 Manhattan residential townhouse transactions were analyzed over this ten year period. 1, 2 and 3-5 (delivered vacant) family houses comprised the data set.

...The annual median sales price of a Manhattan townhouse was a record $4,995,000 this quarter, up 59.8% from the prior year $3,125,000 median sales price. Average sales price showed the same pattern, rising 58.3% to a record $7,372,987 from $4,658,155 over the prior year. Price per square foot reached a record this year, up 42% to $1,615 from $1,137 per square foot in the prior year. The sharp rise in price trends was due to price growth of the luxury market as well as the east side, which has a high concentration of luxury properties. There were 530 townhouses in listing inventory at the end of 2008, up 15.2% from 460 townhouses listed at the end of 2007. The expansion of inventory and decline in the number of sales is consistent with increased negotiability and longer marketing times...

Hamptons North Fork Market Report 1999-2008 [PDF] [PDF] Archives

This report is a comprehensive analysis of the past decade of residential housing sales on the East End. Based on more than 28,000 residential sales transactions, the report parses out the Hamptons and North Fork by price trends, number of sales, days on market, listing discount, listing inventory, property type, absorption, lot size, price and volume brackets.

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