Real Estate Brooklyn Boro

Report: NYC homes are selling fastest in Brooklyn

Prices, rents both up in the borough

March 22, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
The Olympia, DUMBO’s tallest building. Condo sales began in October 2021. Photo by Marchmade
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StreetEasy has released its February 2022 Real Estate Market Report, and with heightened demand and fewer listings available on the market, this spring is set to be a competitive one for prospective home buyers. 

The median asking price in Brooklyn was $928,000 — a 3.2 percent uptick from last year, and the largest annual increase since May 2018. 

Homes are coming off the market the fastest in Brooklyn at a median of 79 days — 25 days faster than they were last year, and Brooklyn for-sale inventory was down 12 percent. 

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Some 1,180 sellers listed their home on the market last month in Brooklyn, 23.6 percent more than last February. More homes on the market means more competition, said StreetEasy, an online real estate marketplace.

As far as the Brooklyn rental market is concerned, median asking rents reached a record of $2,800. That’s 16.7 percent higher than last February. 

Rental inventory was down 53.3 percent from last year, with 8,563 rentals available across the borough. That was only 5 percent lower than how much inventory was available in February 2020. While inventory is tight, it isn’t too different from what was available before the pandemic, StreetEasy reported.

The 93-story Brooklyn Tower, the borough’s first “supertall” building, as seen from Albee Square. Condo sales launched here earlier this month. The landmark Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn is at the forefront. Photo courtesy of JDS Development Group

Citywide Data

In February, 4,078 sellers listed their homes on the market across New York City. That was the highest number of new listings to come onto the market in any February on StreetEasy record —a sign that the market is still rebounding amid the pandemic recovery. The previous high was in February 2018, when 3,538 homes were added to the market.  

After three months of for-sale inventory falling, StreetEasy data shows there was an increase in available homes between January and February. There was a total of 16,622 New York City homes for sale in February, 549 more than there were in January. Still, inventory was 12.2 percent lower than it was in February last year, so there remains room for inventory to fully recover. 

“As the weather gets nicer, many sellers find it an opportunistic time to showcase their properties as the term ‘tree-lined street’ becomes a reality,” said Mike Biryla, a real estate salesperson at the Triplement real estate agency who was quoted by StreetEasy. “An increase in listings also brings an increase in buyers, so it’s very important to have a solid understanding of what matters most in your home search.” 

The Olympia. Photo by Marchmade

The number of homes offering price cuts is a good indicator of how strong buyer demand is. In February, 8.1 percent of New York City for-sale listings advertised a price cut. That’s the same amount as last February, but lower than the 10.2 percent in February 2020, prior to the pandemic. As of February, the median asking price for a home in NYC was $950,000. 

More price cuts may be coming, though. The sale-to-list price ratio in New York City is dropping, which means that sellers are taking cuts between their original list price and their closing price. In January, the median sale-to-list price ratio for Manhattan homes was 98.7 percent, meaning that the borough’s sellers came very close to getting their original listing price. In February, that number dropped to 90.9 percent. 

The median time on market for a home in New York City was 88 days in February —28 days faster than last year. As mentioned earlier, out of the boroughs analyzed for this report, homes in Brooklyn moved off the market fastest at 79 days. Buyers will likely notice homes moving just as quickly (if not quicker) heading into peak shopping season. 

“It’s been two years of unpredictability in the New York City market, but this data shows that the seasonality of the sales market is back,” says Casey Roberts, StreetEasy home trends expert. 

 “This spring will be competitive for homebuyers, but the increase we’re seeing in new inventory is promising. The recent rise in home prices should motivate even more sellers to list their homes for sale, making it easier and more likely for buyers to find and win a home they love.”


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