During the first quarter of 2022 New York City reached a record-breaking number of closed sales, 3,585 to be exact, the highest registered in thirty-three years; up 45.9% year over year and 48.9% from pre-pandemic levels
Listing inventory (the number of available properties on the market) declined 4.4% to 6,906. A decline that has been going on for several quarters. As the market returned to seasonality, the excess demand overpowering listing inventory was partially offset by the seasonal rise in supply.
Sales kept rising and listing inventory kept decreasing from the year-ago quarter. As a result, the months of supply (the metric that indicates the market’s pace) was at 5.8 months, 34.1% faster than the prior-year quarter, and 23.7% faster than the same period two years ago before the pandemic.
The median sales price of a Manhattan home increased 10.7% year over year to $1,190,000, the second-highest level on record, while the average sales price surged 19.3% to $2,042,113. The average price per square foot increased 16.5% to $1,616 from a year ago. All these indicators are above pre-pandemic levels.
Days on market was 137, 0.7% less than the previous year. However, listings that required no listing price adjustment were sold within 79 days. While Listing discount was 4.7%, up nominally from the 4.6% listing discount in the year-ago quarter.
The market share of bidding wars rose for the fourth straight quarter to the highest level in four years.
We can see how the residential market is recovering not only compared to the pandemic period but also compared to the pre-pandemic situation. But let’s not forget that pre-pandemic levels were already weakened by a few years of relatively softer markets; therefore we still have ways to go in order to see substantial appreciation from the previous peaks of 2015-2016.
(data source: Miller Samuel Inc.)
Miami-Dade declares housing crisis
Miami Mayor Daniella Levine Cava declared a housing crisis, setting the stage for the county to distribute $41 million in federal funds as rental assistance.
The county is feeling the squeeze from skyrocketing rents that followed a population influx and ensuing high demand over the past year and a half. Miami rents climbed 38 percent in 2021, the highest gain nationwide.
The issue is exacerbated because many of the transplants kept their higher-paying out-of-state jobs, making them better positioned to afford rising rents. Local incomes have long lagged those of residents in places like New York and Los Angeles. Miami-Dade’s median income is $61,000, compared to $80,000 in Los Angeles County and $81,700 in New York, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Florida law prohibits local governments from imposing rent-control measures, allowing for the unbridled hikes. An exemption could be made if a municipality or county provides a well-researched rationale as to why rates should be capped and then puts the issue to a referendum and even if it passes, then the rent control would last for a maximum of one year.
The $41 million in emergency rental assistance partly comes from the $28 million that remains in the county’s total allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in March 2021. The other $13 million is money from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was disbursed for the 2021 fiscal year.
(source: therealdeal.com)
