NYC Sales Drop in Q1 Except Multifamily

New York City recorded over $2.9 billion in commercial real estate property sales in the first quarter – a 42% drop compared to the first quarter of 2023 and 43% decline compared to the previous quarter, according to Ariel Property Advisors. Transaction volume for the period totaled 392, which represented a 26% year-over-year decline and no change quarter-over-quarter.

Although fourth quarter activity is typically much stronger than first quarter activity, the multifamily market in Q1 2024 outperformed Q4 2023, even though there was only one transaction that exceeded $50 million. The Q1 dollar volume for multifamily sales rose to over $1.4 billion, a 23% increase compared to Q1 2023, and a considerable 36% increase compared to the previous quarter’s sales figures. In total, 245 multifamily transactions were recorded in Q1 2024, a 13% decline from the same period last year but a 17% overall increase compared to the previous three months.

Significant year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter declines were reported among the other property classes.

The dollar volume for office properties fell by 76% year-over-year to $166 million across 10 transactions in Q1 2024 and dropped by 74% compared to the previous quarter.

Sales of commercial assets (including retail properties and hotels) totaled $416 million, a 57% drop year-over-year and 80% decline quarter-over-quarter. Transactions also fell to 38 in Q1 2024, down by 45% from Q1 2023 and a decline of 32% from the fourth quarter 2023.