The mayoral election is days away and industry bugaboo Zohran Mamdani still holds a massive lead.
Depending on whom you hear from, sellers are heading for the hills (or the beaches of South Florida). Even in less contentious elections, it’s a common refrain from brokers and analysts that buyers take a pause.
But UrbanDigs co-founder and number-cruncher Noah Rosenblatt said at a panel held by Platinum Properties on Wednesday that he’s been seeing activity quite to the contrary.
“Believe it or not, for the first time, I’m actually starting to see some favorable data over the last three, four, five weeks,” he said.
I followed up with UrbanDigs, whose data show there have been 986 contracts signed in the last 30 days, pacing 4 percent ahead of the same period last year. It’s worth noting that while this time last year was a presidential election, but recent activity is also 8 percent ahead of the October season average.
The Real Deal has previously reported that claims of election market slowdowns are largely unfounded, but that hasn’t stopped talking heads from citing frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s campaign promises as impetus for a mass exodus.
But a new mayor doesn’t seem to be having any tangible impact on the residential sales market.
“If this election is everything that it’s been brought up to be, which is this decision point about the future of New York, I don’t think buyers have gotten the message,” UrbanDigs co-founder John Walkup told me during a call the next day.
While multifamily owners and real estate investors have a different calculation to make given Mamdani’s housing policies, the stream of home-buying activity speaks to the host of other factors that keep the market humming despite conclusions reached by the New York Post.
There is time yet for the city’s wealthy to flee in the wake of a Mamdani victory, and some might be holding out hope for a Cuomo upset, but there’s at least 986 buyers recently betting on New York City.
What we’re thinking about: TRD’s latest property manager rankings are live in the November issue, and the theme of the last few years has been consolidation — and the risks that come with it. Do you know any mergers that have not gone as expected, or building’s revolting under new management? Email me at jacob.indursky@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: More than 50,000 runners (including a couple of TRD’s own) will be darting across the city on Sunday during the 54th New York City Marathon. While those 26.2 miles take them on paved streets across all five boroughs, an “analysis” from a running company showed that runners could instead run across the Brooklyn Bridge 24 times, Central Park four times, or step across 103,752 New York City rats. Maybe an idea for the city’s next rat czar.
Elsewhere…
— Governor Kathy Hochul announced $100 million in state funding for food pantries and emergency food providers in anticipation of a freeze in federal SNAP benefits, City and State reported. But the spigot for SNAP benefits will remain off, meaning recipients of the benefits won’t be able to purchase groceries or subsidized meals using the program until the government reopens.
— New York City will be looking at buying the homes of residents in flood-prone areas, starting with the infamous Brooklyn/Queens neighborhood nicknamed “The Hole,” The City reported. The effort is part of the Resilient Acquisitions program piloted by the Mayor’s office, which began collecting information on Friday from residents interested in volunteering their homes for sale.
— Several ballot questions on Tuesday will go towards speeding up the city’s land use processes and removing some of the barriers to development, like the practice of member deference, where city council members give the ultimate thumbs-up or down to rezonings. That might mean that some council districts, like those of Councilmember Gale Brewer on the Upper West Side and Speaker Adrienne Adams in Queens, that have produced zero units of affordable housing this year as The City reported, will start ponying up their fair share.
Closing time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Friday was $32 million for 2126 East 4th Street. The three-story home in Gravesend is over 10,000 square feet. Seller Gindi Capital transferred the property in an off-market sale.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $31 million for 245 Duffield Street. The two-story fitness center in Downtown Brooklyn is 25,000 square feet.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $16.5 million for 25 Central Park West, Unit 21Q. The Upper West Side duplex is 3,500 square feet. Corcoran’s Denise Kelly and Michael Turtora have the listing.
