#39 The Price of New in New York. Steve Kliegerman & Laura Tomana Thursday, February 3, 2022

Manhattan real estate hasn’t just recovered from the pandemic slump, it’s doing better than in the pre-COVID era. This week on the show we talk to the President of new development for Brown Harris Stevens in New York and top economist Laura Tomana on the crazy pace of 2021 and whether it can be sustained into 2022 and beyond. Stephen Kliegerman expects momentum to continue as Wall Street bonuses roll in and the wealthy get wealthier. Laura Tomana says buyers look to Dumbo for more gracious floor plans and unblocked city and river views. In Manhattan new-development contracts tripled in 2021. 1,723 newly developed units went into contract, a 233% increase over the previous year. The Upper East Side saw the most substantial boom, with 63 deals inked in new developments in Q3 2021, compared to 21 in 2020 and just five in 2019. Chelsea-Flatiron District area (between West 14th and West 34th Streets), is on the upswing where 28 deals closed in Q3 2021, up from nine in 2020 and just two in 2019. “The high-end Brooklyn market also stood out, with record sales and cementing new luxury product expectations in an outer borough,” said Stephen Kliegerman. Brooklyn new development contracts this year smashed recent years’ totals with larger, more expensive homes leading the charge. New development contracts in 2021 totaled $1.54 billion, a 150 percent increase from last year and 77 percent jump from 2019. 898 new development contracts were signed in Brooklyn. The average home signed was 1,220 square feet, a five-year high, and price-per-square-foot climbed to $1,680, up 43 percent year over year. 22 percent of contracts were for units with three bedrooms or more. Not all neighborhoods fared the same. Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn posted 87 contracts in the fourth quarter, more than double the amount signed in the same time span last year. But contract activity declined in Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Flatbush and Prospect Park South. While contract activity slowed in the fourth quarter, that drop is a response to insufficient supply, not demand, according to Laura Tomana, Vice President of research and market analytics at Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing.