An exceptional luxury-contract week meets uneven demand and a new-development market with more inventory than public listings reveal. November 9, 2026 | Updated November 11, 2026 By Karen Kostiw Credit markets are becoming more cautious, yet Manhattan luxury buyers just produced the strongest week of aggregate asking-price volume since November 2021. Those realities are not Continue Reading
Karen’s View | Macro Lens | November 4, 2026 The Down Payment Opens the Conversation. Qualification Determines What Comes Next Qualifying to buy a home in Manhattan takes more than a substantial down payment. A buyer can want the apartment, have the funds upfront, and still be unable to qualify for the financing. That distinction deserves more attention than whether mortgage rates moved up Continue Reading
How Ownership Costs Shape Manhattan Affordability Manhattan's housing market continues to produce data that appears contradictory at first glance. Inventory remains about 10% below last year's level, mortgage rates stay above 7%, and contract activity continues to lag 2025. Yet liquidity improved 11% this week, weekly signed contracts increased to 195 deals, and several indicators Continue Reading
Every market cycle brings the same debate. Some buyers are waiting patiently for home prices to fall, while homeowners worry that a correction could erode their equity. A recent Clever survey found that many younger buyers are rooting for a housing crash because they believe it would make homeownership more attainable. But what are housing economists forecasting? The latest Continue Reading
June Prints Feel More Like April June opened with the feel of a full spring market rather than a quiet handoff into summer. Buyers were still out in force at open houses, board packages kept moving through committee, and new listings continued to arrive across the core neighborhoods rather than trickle in. The pace felt deliberate. Sellers tested the market with pricing that nodded to Continue Reading
Spring Rhythm In Motion After a quieter Memorial Day week, Manhattan stepped back into a more familiar late spring rhythm for the week of May 25. Supply kept building as we are moving closer to the summer window, while buyers concentrated in the $1M to $3M range, where monthly payments still pencil in a mid‑6% mortgage world. The result was a market that felt busy again, more choices on the Continue Reading
Quality moves quickly, premiums return, and decisive action wins Manhattan this week demonstrated what happens when sellers price to current reality, and buyers stop hesitating. Multiple forces converge on a limited inventory. Estate planning brings empty nesters back to the city seeking maintenance-free living near cultural institutions and healthcare. Suburban families exhausted by commutes Continue Reading
Manhattan Weekly Market Snapshot: Spring in a Chess Phase Manhattan’s spring market feels more like a long chess match than a sprint right now. Buyers are still moving, but only when a home clears a higher bar on value and monthly comfort. Sellers no longer win just by showing up; they win by reading the room and the data. The week’s contract tape and Manhattan–Brooklyn price‑tier chart point to Continue Reading
One chart, many Manhattan cycles The Manhattan price‑per‑square‑foot chart tells a longer, more useful story than any single headline sale. It shows a market that recovered strongly after the financial crisis, pushed higher through the mid‑2010s, then settled into a long sideways stretch that has now lasted roughly a decade. Recent readings near $1,408 per square foot place Manhattan only Continue Reading
654 Madison Ave Fl 5
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