NYC home sales plunge by largest amount on record, report shows

The drop was the largest in 30 years of record keeping

Apartment sales in New York City, one of the metropolitan areas hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, declined by the most in at least three decades, a new report shows.

Sales in the second quarter fell 54.1 percent to 1,357 when compared with the same period last year, according to research by Miller Samuel for Douglas Elliman. That is the most “significant decline” in thirty years of recordkeeping.

Over the past ten years, second quarter sales are typically double what was observed in 2020.

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“All price tranches covered showed significant annual declines,” according to the report.

Sales above $5 million dropped 65.5 percent, and sales below $5 million fell 53.2 percent.

Listing inventory also experienced it steepest decline in seven years, while days on the market hit its highest level since 2003.

Jonathan Miller, the author of the report, noted on Twitter that the declines were largely the result of the market being essentially shut down by state-mandated social distancing and lockdown guidelines.

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However, as previously reported by FOX Business, moving companies reported an “insane” uptick in demand among individuals looking to leave the Big Apple.

While some were moving out to nearby suburbs on Long Island, in Connecticut or Westchester – others were heading south, to popular destinations including Florida and the Carolinas.

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New York was the areas that bore the brunt of new cases at the start of the pandemic, though hot spots have since shifted to other areas of the country, like Texas, California and Florida.

The pandemic has accelerated a shift to the suburbs, as it encouraged people to see the value in private property and space.

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