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Here?s what?s really going on in NYC?s housing market. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented levels of job loss and could push the global economy into a prolonged recession. And if you need more evidence that we have stumbled into the darkest late-capitalism timeline, look no further than people hoping the pandemic might help them finally buy a house.
For anyone shopping in Manhattan, the opportunity for a discount seemingly presented itself last week: A Douglas Elliman report revealed that the median price for Manhattan home sales in the second quarter of 2020 was down a shocking 17.7 percent year over year. Has the economic fallout from the pandemic caused Manhattan?s housing market, one of the most durable and expensive in the country, to collapse" Despite headlines like ?Manhattan Real-Estate Market Plummets As City Dwellers Seek Housing in Rural Communities? and ?Real-Estate Prices Fall Sharply in New York,? the answer is, sadly, no for prospective buyers. The pandemic has disrupted the basic functioning of housing markets across the country, and particularly in New York City, where brokers weren?t even able to show homes to buyers for much of the second quarter.
Without showings, fewer people have been buying and selling homes. And with fewer sales, the more room for distortion in home-price data.
?The decline does not infer a COVID discount,? says Jonathan Miller, CEO of New York appraisal firm Miller Samuel and the author of the Dou...