Below is a chart showing you
Manhattan Supply trends over the last 2 years:
The breakdown is as follows:
March 1st 2010 supply was at 7,391 actively updated units for sale
March 1st 2011 supply was at 7,346 actively updated units for sale
March 1st 2012 supply is at 6,738 actively updated units for sale
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to interpret what UD supply & demand data is telling us!
Even with tighter inventory the market managed to eek out a very strong February! In the field, brokers are experiencing multiple offers for well priced desirable properties as buyers compete with each other for the best products.
Josh Barbanel's recent article "
Property Slips in Manhattan" discusses:
Despite chirpy predictions by brokers about a strengthening Manhattan real-estate market in 2012, a slowdown in co-op and condo sales has deepened so far this year.
Sales were off 6.4% so far during the first quarter, compared with the year-earlier period, which was the worst quarter for sales since the Manhattan market hit bottom in 2009.
Brokers said that new deal signings have been rising lately, especially in the last two weeks of an unusually warm February. Residential sales often rise sharply during the spring, usually the peak selling season in New York.
Pamela Liebman, president of Corcoran Group, said that sales may have been depressed lately because of falling inventory, especially of well-priced apartments. Typically there is a surge of new listings in the spring.
"Anything that comes on in a good building at the right price is selling extremely fast," she said. "Open house traffic is up, the number of buyers is up. There is a severe shortage of new development product."
Hall Willkie, the president of Brown Harris Stevens, said that his new contract figures show that the number of deals with signed contracts rose in January and February compared with the same period a year earlier.
Readers must understand the differences between UrbanDigs PENDING SALES and actual sales volume.
UD Pending Sales - tracks the pool of listings that are currently IN CONTRACT and awaiting closing. At all times, there is fresh data coming in the front end as new deals are signed.