New York, NY Douglas Elliman has released its Elliman Report: Manhattan Sales 4Q 2012, which showed that Manhattan closed out 2012 with the most fourth quarter sales in 25 years and the lowest amount of inventory in more than a decade.
“We’ve had a lot of activity at the end of the year, as we anticipated,” said Dottie Herman, president and CEO of Douglas Elliman. “Tax planning in advance of the ‘fiscal cliff,’ rising rents, an improving regional economy and record low mortgage rates were some of the key reasons for increased sales in the quarter.”
“Housing prices remained stable through the year, but listing inventory fell to its lowest level since 2001, when we began tracking it,” said Jonathan Miller, president/CEO of Miller Samuel, who produced the report in conjunction with Douglas Elliman. “Tight credit is one of the key reasons for this fall in inventory as sellers, when they sell, become buyers.”
“Price indicators were mixed during the fourth quarter,” said Miller. “The overall takeaway from the fall of 2012 is that record sales and falling inventory could very well result in rising prices of homes in 2013.”
“Manhattan remains one of the best housing markets in the United States,” said Herman. “We continue to be impressed with the depth and strength of the New York City residential marketplace and look forward to an active 2013.”