Declining sales making NYC real estateuncertain
A number of factors, including a new tax law, rising interest rates and a decline in foreign investments, could influence the city’s rental inventory and the number of homes sold. Sales in the second quarter were down 20% year-over-year from 2017, according a report from the brokerage Douglas Elliman. Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of the consultant firm Miller Samuel, which compiles Douglas Elliman’s data, said some home-buyers and sellers are waiting to see how a federal property tax law that caps write-offs at $10,000 will affect their finances when they file their returns in early 2019. Tension between the Trump administration and China could deter Chinese investors from buying property in the United States, Miller added. If the opposite happens, and China pours money into the U.S. economy, that could inflate the value of the dollar, sending interest rates and mortgage payments up as a result. Freddie Mac recorded the 30-year fixed rate at 4.72% as of Sept. 20, the highest its been since April 2011. Manhattan’s median sales price was $1,090,000 in the second quarter, Douglas Elliman reported, and though that's down from $1,150,000 last year, many first-time home-buyers cannot afford the Big Apple, Miller said.
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