Manhattan Real Estate Market Update Q2 2025

Sales Hit 2-Year High While Buyers Favor Cash

Market Conditions

The Manhattan real estate market continued its rebound in Q2 2025, with closings reaching their highest level in nearly two years. A total of 3,042 sales closed, marking a 16.6% year-over-year increase and coming in 8.4% abovethe 10-year quarterly average. This was the third consecutive quarter of annual price growth following last year’s declines. Notably, however, about half of the deals were signed before April, ahead of the rollout of the new U.S. tariff policy, which may have helped boost the quarter’s numbers.

Contracts Signed

Unlike closed sales which for the most part depicts the past, contracts signed is a leading indicator of the real estate market. Shaking off the uncertainty over tariff policy, Contracts Signed in June 2025 saw a strong surge in newly signed contracts across all property types:

• Co-ops: 506 contracts, up 27.5% YoY
  
  
• Condos: 354 contracts, up 17.6% YoY
  
  
• 1–3 family homes: 31 contracts, up 106.7% YoY

Luxury demand remained the standout. Signed contracts in the $5M–$9.99Mand $10M–$19.99M price bands jumped significantly. For example, condo contracts in the $10M–$19.99M range more than doubled year-over-year. According to the Douglas Elliman Market Report, luxury contract volume (the top 10% of the market) has more than doubled in the past two months alone.

Cash Dominates

Cash purchases hit a record-high 69.1% of all sales.

• 78.3% of sales over $3M were cash
  
  
• 60.4% of sales under $1M were cash (well above the historical average of 43.3%)
  
  
• Financed sales rose only 5.7% year-over-year, while cash deals surged 23%, reflecting tighter lending standards and a more competitive all-cash buyer pool. 

Inventory & Months of Supply

Listing inventory ticked up 3.1% to 8,296 units, but it was outpaced by rising sales, reducing the months of supply to 8.2—down from 9.2 a year ago and just below the decade average of 8.3 months.

New Development

• Closings: 408, up 19.3% YoY
  
  
• Median sale price: $2.31M, up 13.1%
  
  
• Average unit size: 1,563 SF, up 13.3%
  
  
• Discount: Improved to 3.6% from 6.3%
  
  
• Market share: 13.4% of all closings

The strength in new development was driven by end-users rather than investors, with foreign buyers comprising just 6.5% of all sales, well below the decade average of 11.7%.

Luxury Market (Top 10%)

• Entry threshold: $4.5M
  
  
• Median price: $6.525M, up 8.8%
  
  
• Average price: $8.57M
  
  
• Sales: 310, up 18.3% YoY
  
  
• Inventory: Down 21.2%
  
  
• Months of supply: 12.1, improved from 18.2
  
  
• Listing discount: 8.2%
  
  
• Days on market: 133 days, up from 94 a year ago

Luxury performance continues to outpace the broader market, supported by cash-heavy buyers and a tightening supply of ultra-high-end listings.

Resale Market

• Closings: 2,634, up 16.2% YoY
  
  
• Median resale price: Flat at $1.05M
  
  
• Listing discount: 6.0%, cut in half from last year
  
  
• Inventory: 7,119 units (+4.7%)
  
  
• Months of supply: 8.1, down from 9.0
  
  

Manhattan Remains Resilient

Manhattan's real estate market remains resilient, bolstered by strong demand, limited new development, and a high proportion of cash transactions. In times of global market volatility, investors have historically shifted capital from equities to tangible assets like prime real estate, seeking stability and long-term value. While headwinds of tariff uncertainty and high mortgage rates remain, Manhattan is entering this phase from a position of strength. 

Key Market Indicators:

• Population Growth: Net population and international migration to New York City have been on the rise.

• Inventory Constraints: The supply of available properties remains insufficient to meet demand.

• Price Appreciation: Property prices continue to climb across all market segments.

• Return to Office: Placer.ai's April 2025 Office Index indicated that New York City office foot traffic was just 5.5% below April 2019 levels, the smallest drop among major U.S. cities.

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